The True Meaning of SeeD
by Lava Ridge
Summary: Ch22- Quistis and Seifer are making their way back to Balamb. Please review, I need some more reviews!!!
1. One

"Class dismissed," Instructor Trepe called out over the bell, "Don't forget to read up on your assigned guardian force for the next class." Her last remark only fell on a few ears, as most of the class had already dashed out of the small classroom. Ainsley Raghnall, one of the few students left in the room sighed. She hadn't even started her GF project yet, never mind gone about applying for it. In order for a SeeD cadet to complete part of their classroom work, they had to petition the headmaster's office for a GF and pass a small field test to aquire it, along with their instructor.  
  
"Ainsley," Instructor Trepe called as the petite girl was about to walk out the door. Ainsley turned to her instructor but didn't say a word.  
  
"I think that you're ready for the GF test right now instead of waiting for after the written test. I've signed you up for this afternoon. Please meet me at the front gate in an hour or so?" Ainsley nodded her reply, walked out the door and nearly ran into another cadet.  
  
"Ryo!" Ainsley exclaimed, "Were you listening at the door?"  
  
"Ahhh," Ryo said and held one finger up in the air, "It is my business to know everything and anything that happens in this garden." He smiled and quickly kissed Ainsley on the cheek. He then took her schoolbooks from her and walked at her side to the cafeteria. "So, Instructor Trepe thinks that you're ready for the GF test already? That's great! Who knows, maybe you'll break her record for being the youngest SeeD to graduate." Ainsley became silent and stared at the ground.  
  
"That's just the problem," she mumbled, mainly to herself. She stopped to gaze at the pools of water that ran through the Garden architecture.  
  
"Ainsley?" Ryo questioned after realizing that she was no longer walking. Ainsley looked up from the soothing water.  
  
"Never mind," she said with a somewhat forced smile and laugh. Ryo smiled and patted her on the shoulder with his free hand.  
  
"Don't worry you're just nervous. Instructor Trepe passed the test when she was your age. You'll pass." Ainsley half-smiled again as they walked into the cafeteria and crashed right into another one of their instructors.  
  
"Zell!" Ryo yelled. Ainsley contemplated for a minute the differences between Zell and Instructor Trepe. Instructor Trepe, although nice, was always formal, and didn't really have any sense of humor. Rumor was that she had become quite reserved and cold after Commander Lionheart's marriage to Rinoa Heartilly. Zell, on the other hand was outgoing and friendly. He also insisted that all of his students in his hand to hand combat classes called him 'Zell' instead of 'Instructor Dincht.'  
  
"Ainsley….Ainsley!" Ainsley was pulled out of thought by Zell waving his hand in front of her face. She blushed and almost stumbled. Ryo gave her a weird look and then said excitedly to Zell,  
  
"Don't worry about her, she's just nervous about her GF test later on today!" Zell grinned and looked at Ainsley.  
  
"I already know about it, Quisty told me yesterday that she was going to arrange the test for you. Congrats…she sure sees a lot of potential in you."  
  
"Yeah…" Ainsley trailed off. Zell winked at her and patted her on the back,  
  
"I see a lot of potential in you too. You can easily catch up with what you'll miss in class today. We're just practicing with partners again." Ainsley blushed again and nodded.  
  
"Zell Dincht!" a voice called. Zell turned around to see that the line had moved and he was next.  
  
"Oh!" he said and clumsily scratched behind his head, "Do ya have any hotdogs left?" The cafeteria lady smiled,  
  
"I'm sorry Zell. We're all out."  
  
"Oh man!" Zell snapped his fingers. "Oh well. Thanks anyway." He turned to Ryo and Ainsley again. "Good luck Ainsley!" he said and patted her on the head. Ainsley blushed yet again, and watched as Zell left the cafeteria. Ryo laughed slightly as a dark look passed over his face.  
  
"What's with you?" he asked her, "You're the best student in our class and you still go to pieces every time Zell talks to you." Ainsley pressed her hands to her reddened cheeks, willing herself to stop blushing.  
  
"I do not," she said simply.  
  
"He's twenty-eight and you're fourteen!" Ryo yelled at her.  
  
"I know!" Ainsley said forcefully. She then took her books from Ryo's hands. "I've got to go read about GFs. I don't know which one Instructor Trepe is going to have me face." She then ran out of the cafeteria clasping her books to her chest. Ryo watched her go and sighed.  
  
* * *  
  
Ainsley burst into her suite. She swiftly walked into her room and sat down. Now that she was in her room, she didn't really want to look up GFs. In fact, she didn't even want to take the GF test. She flopped down on the bed and kicked off her boots. Her roommate walked in a few minutes later.  
  
"Hey. Ainsley," her roommate poked her in the back.  
  
"Owww…" Ainsley mumbled. She then sat up on the bed. "Xaria, what are you doing here? You have to study for your field exam."  
  
"I came to congratulate you. The news has already spread through the Garden that you're taking the GF test today." Xaria said with a bright smile.  
  
"Gahh!" Ainsley yelled and flopped back onto her bed.  
  
"Are you okay?" asked Xaria. "You should be really happy. You'll be younger than Instructor Trepe was when she took the test. At this rate, you'll break her record for the youngest cadet to graduate."  
  
"That's just it, Sari, I don't want to. I'm sick of Instructor Trepe trying to make me just like her. She's one of the heroes that saved us from the sorceress a decade ago. I'll never be as good as her. I just wish she'd stop trying." Xaria leaned over and brushed Ainsley's hair back from her face.  
  
"I'm sorry, Ains. But it looks like that's what you'll have to do. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do fine." Ainsley sighed. Xaria smiled and hugged her roommate briefly. "You should get ready for your exam, and I should be studying for my field exam tommorow. Good luck Ains." Ainsley watched as Xaria went back to her room to study. She sighed again, and then went to her top drawer to pull out her comfortable battle clothes, a navy tank top and a long corduroy skirt. She changed into them and strapped her belt with her rapier on it. She sloppily pulled back her hair in a ponytail and breathed deeply. Although Ainsley didn't appreciate being Instructor Trepe's pet project, she was ready to prove herself and excited about junctioning her very own guardian force. 


	2. Two

Notes!- I forgot to include a disclaimer in my first chapter. I do not own any of the characters from Final Fantasy 8, obviously. However, Ainsley and Ryo both belong to me, as will other characters that come along in this ongoing fanfiction. Do not use any of these characters without my permission.  
  
  
  
A cool breeze blew across the Alcauld Plains of Balamb as Quistis and Ainsley headed out. Quistis looked sideways at her prodigious student as they walked purposefully in silence. Ainsley's head was turned down at the ground as her strawberry blonde hair blew in the wind. Quistis inwardly sighed. Ainsley was one of her more promising students, but was almost worse than Squall had been when it came to any sort of communication or emotion. Even when she had seen Ainsley with that boy of hers, Ainsley hadn't shown any genuine feeling or kindness towards the boy. Quistis sighed softly out loud, the breath ruffling a few wayward tendrils of hair across her eyes. Although she had later found out the reasons behind Headmaster Cid's revoking of her instructor's license she hadn't been able to forget the comment that she was incompetent. Simply thinking back on those words coming from the Headmaster's mouth, and also from the source of her incompetence, her belligerent former student Seifer Almasy, caused a small sting in her chest. She briefly brushed her fingertips over her heart. Seifer. Rumors were always abundant about the former Sorceress's Knight, most telling of an untimely or gruesome demise. Quistis, however, didn't believe a word of any of them. Not long after Seifer had begun taking her classes, she had recognized his incredible potential and intelligence. Frankly, she thought to herself, although she wouldn't be too sad to know that Seifer was indeed dead, he was simply too smart to be caught by the numerous governments, organizations, and bounty hunters who were all searching for him.  
  
"Instructor?"  
  
Quistis was quickly pulled out of her pensive state as Ainsley looked up at her with a look of puzzlement.  
  
"Instructor, we passed the turnoff for the Fire Cavern," Ainsley pointed at the small worn trail, forged by the numerous students who had gone to the Fire Cavern for their GF tests. Quistis cleared her throat and nodded,  
  
"That's because we're not going to the Fire Cavern for your test." Ainsley looked puzzled at this statement.  
  
"But…" she said. Quistis could see the panicked thoughts flutter across her face in succession. She had assumed, correctly, that any studying that Ainsley might have done in the past had only been on acquiring the guardian force Ifrit, and not any of the others. She also knew that an elementary GF like Ifrit would be a breeze for Ainsley, and that Ifrit's temperament would not mesh well with Ainsley's personality. Ainsley put her head back down to stare at the grass. Quistis smiled.  
  
"Ainsley…" she began, "Although I am your instructor, you can call me Quistis from now on." Ainsley simply nodded and stared at the passing ground.  
  
"You know," Quistis tried again, "I was only a bit older than you when I passed my own guardian force test." Ainsley nodded again but didn't say anything. Quistis nodded and then looked out at the ocean.  
  
"Ainsley, we're here." Ainsley looked up from the ground. She had been so deep into her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed the stubby field grass had turned into long coarse sea grass and finally sand. The breezes blew slightly faster and the smell of salt air that prevailed throughout the island was strongest here. Suddenly Ainsley fell to the sand with a thud. Quistis drew out her Save the Queen and whirled around to face a Bite Bug that had flown from the plains onto the beach. She concentrated and drew a few fire spells from the large bug, leaving the attacking to her student. Ainsley did not disappoint her. She quickly pulled herself up from the sand and prepared a fighting stance with her rapier. Dashing forward she jammed her point down through the bug, pinning it to the sand. It gave a few last flutters of its wings before collapsing. Ainsley pulled her rapier out of the now dead bug and quickly ran to the ocean to clean her blade. To her surprise, she was knocked back by a large wave that washed her up further onto the shore and drenched her clothes. She looked to Quistis in alarm, but Quistis stood calmly on the beach, as if she had expected this to happen. Quistis pointed at the wave to turn Ainsley's attention back to the water. As Ainsley turned her head she saw something rising from the water. It seemed beautiful in it's own way, with scales that sparkled and reflected all of the colors in the rainbow. The sun glinted off of the creature so sharply that Ainsley had to avert her eyes for a few moments in order to see clearly. The creature, that Ainsley now recognized as the guardian force Leviathan, loomed over her and looked her in the eye.  
  
"So you are the cadet that wishes to challenge me?" 'I don't wish to challenge anyone,' though Ainsley to herself, but this comment was thought mainly out of habit rather than genuine contempt. She rose to attention as Quistis quietly approached.  
  
"This is the SeeD cadet that wishes to challenge you and I am her accompanying instructor." The creature nodded at Quistis and then turned it attention back to Ainsley. Ainsley stood firmly at attention.  
  
"This will not be easy, little one." Ainsley bristled at this comment on both her age and her small stature.  
  
"I am prepared," she said simply in reply. The creature bent it's head down in a nod and then quickly attacked her without warning, knocking her, once more, to the sand. She scrambled up as Quistis rushed forward with her Save the Queen and delivered a blow that would have easily cleaved another creature into pieces. Instead, it only caused a small welt along the thick scales. Ainsley quickly recognized this and realized that she couldn't attack with her rapier at all. She then clasped both of her hands on the hilt of her weapon and brought it to her chest. Bending her head down, she began to concentrate on summoning the elementary GF Shiva that had been given to her. She quickly lost conciousness and fell to her knees, disappearing momentarily and reappearing in the back of the guardian force's mind. While summoning a guardian force, Ainsley couldn't control it's actions, but was able to watch what was going on, much like the GF itself when it is not in use but remains at the back of one's mind. She felt Shiva's arms raising above her head and release a large, icy beam of energy. Leviathan recoiled and shivered from the blow as Ainsley reappeared on the beach. She looked over at Quistis, who was in an intense state of concentration. Leviathan coiled and lashed at Quistis with its serpentine tail. Quistis stumbled slightly, but didn't fall, and soon disappeared at the arrival of Quetzacoatl. Leviathan was paralyzed by the lightning bolts that danced from the sky, and Ainsley took this opportunity to rush forward and thrust her point into a small soft spot that had appeared on the creature's underbelly. Leviathan raised its head in a silent scream and thrashed back into deeper water, dragging Ainsley with it. Ainsley sputtered and choked as she struggled to pull her rapier from the creature's wound. Leviathan rose up from the water and Ainsley managed to yank her point out. She fell back into the water with a splash as Leviathan called a large tsunami to wash over the beach. Ainsley was swept up into the giant wave and washed up onto the shore. She coughed and sputtered as she tried to breathe. Quistis looked over with concern, but knew that she needed to continue the fight. She took a deep breath and summoned Quetzacotl again, buying Ainsley a little time to recover. Ainsley slowly pulled herself up from the sand and saw that Quistis was attacking with a GF. She gritted her teeth and focused on summoning Shiva once more. Again, she felt the release of a large beam of energy and fell back to the ground. Leviathan flopped onto the sand momentarily and then slowly approached Ainsley. Ainsley held her rapier in a defensive stance, not noticing that Quistis had already relaxed her stance. Leviathan whirled around Ainsley once and took in the shivering, sopping wet, little girl. It nodded and then jumped back into the waves. Ainsley waited a few minutes and then opened her eyes, which had been squeezed shut. A glittering thing fell from the sky and into her hands. It was a Triple Triad card. Ainsley was confused for a few moments, before turning the card over and seeing Leviathan on the playing side of the card. She then concentrated in her head and felt a small shift as Leviathan junctioned with her. She slowly smiled and then collapsed to the ground, unconscious. 


	3. Three

Once again, standard disclaimers apply. Do not use any of my characters (Ainsley, Ryo, Xaria, Moss et. al.) without permission. All other characters are being borrowed from Squaresoft.  
  
  
  
"An Elastoid! Man that is crap!" Ryo slammed his hand on the cafeteria table for emphasis.  
  
"Don't get mad at me because you suck!" exclaimed his friend, Moss, good- naturedly. Ryo glared at him and the redheaded mop top boy goofily grinned back. Ryo tried to hold his glare but Moss looked so stupid to him that he burst out laughing.  
  
"That's it," Moss said, "I haven't seen you smile in days. What bug has been up your ass lately anyway?" Moss gathered the cards up the cards on the table as he said this, and fanned them out to choose one. Ryo looked off into space for a minute.  
  
"I dunno," he shrugged, "nerves I guess." Moss studied his friend for a few minutes before accepting his answer.  
  
"Yeah, the SeeD test is a big deal," Moss then admitted. "I probably should be studying for it myself." Ryo looked puzzled.  
  
"I thought that you already passed the written at Trabia and came here to take the field exam only." Moss fleetingly looked nervous but then shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Nope," he replied. Ryo shrugged and felt around the table for his cards.  
  
"You still haven't picked one yet?" he asked incredulously.  
  
"Hmmmm…" Moss studied the cards once more and moved his fingers around in a circle over them, as if choosing one at random. "I'll take…" he plucked a card from the array, "this little number."  
  
"Bastard!" Ryo exploded, "That's my one GF card I have left!" Ryo had already lost Shiva to Ainsley and Quetzacoatl to an aging Trepie named Bartell.  
  
"Then learn how to play better!" Moss taunted, holding the Ifrit card between his fingers. He then added this to his deck and slid the remainder of Ryo's cards across the table. Ryo added them to the rest of his deck and shuffled them angrily.  
  
"I'll 'play better' you," he mumbled and then called out louder, "Rematch!" Moss grinned and began to sift through his deck in search of the right cards. As Ryo shuffled through his own deck, he felt a small but forceful tap on his shoulder. "Wha-?" he turned to find a Faculty member behind him.  
  
"Student number 315672, Ryo Namsura?" asked the Shumi faculty. Ryo nodded in reply as Moss looked up from his cards to see what was happening. "Come to the Infirmary. Instructor Trepe wishes to speak with you," the Faculty member stated. Ryo nodded again and rose from his seat, shooting a small, perplexed look at Moss. Moss shrugged back and Ryo followed the robed faculty out of the cafeteria.  
  
  
  
As the Faculty ushered Ryo into the Infirmary, he saw that Instructor Trepe and Doctor Kimuri were already assembled, along with another girl with dark hair who Ryo felt he should know. The familiar looking girl smiled at Ryo and Ryo gave a small half smile back. Instructor Trepe turned to Ryo and smiled.  
  
"Ryo Namsura?" she asked. Ryo nodded. The instructor held out her hand and Ryo shook it. He was surprised at her firm handshake. "You should be very proud of her," she said as it finally dawned on Ryo why he would be called to the Infirmary to meet with Instructor Trepe.  
  
"Ainsley!" he exclaimed. "Is she okay? Where is she?" Instructor Trepe smiled at his concern.  
  
"She's fine," she replied. Doctor Kimuri stepped forward with a small clipboard in her hands.  
  
"Against my judgment," she began, shooting a look at Instructor Trepe, "Cadet Ainsley faced a secondary level guardian force this afternoon." Ryo was puzzled.  
  
"But I thought…" he began. Instructor Trepe stepped forward again.  
  
"Although the most common GF to acquire for this test is Ifrit, an elementary level GF…" Ryo nodded at this statement. Ifrit had been the GF that he had acquired for himself in the same test, although he preferred to use Quetzacoatl in battles.  
  
"I felt as if Ainsley needed a bigger challenge, not to mention that Ifrit's and Ainsley's personalities do not match at all," the instructor continued. Ryo nodded once more. He wasn't sure about the 'challenge' statement, but he agreed that Ainsley's subtle and rather cool temperament did not mix well with Ifrit's 'strike first, think later' attitude. Doctor Kimuri cleared her throat at this statement, showing that she didn't necessarily agree with Instructor Trepe.  
  
"Needless to say," the doctor began, "Cadet Ainsley fought the GF Leviathan…"  
  
"Leviathan!" Ryo shouted at Instructor Trepe, "Are you insane!?" Leviathan was known for being a strong guardian force that, instead of attacking at whim, contemplated and chose it's own battles. If it has seen Ainsley as a worthy opponent, it would not have gone easy on her. Doctor Kimuri cleared her throat again to get Ryo's attention.  
  
"..And won," the doctor finished. Ryo looked at the instructor with shock.  
  
"She won?" he said, startled, and then continued, "Well, of course she won…" he trailed off. Instructor Trepe smiled once more at his obvious concern for Ainsley. Doctor Kimuri, although not happy that Quistis had been so reckless to send a fourteen-year-old cadet against a secondary GF, was also slightly amused at Ryo's exhibition of emotion.  
  
"She sustained a large blow to the head, however," the doctor said, "And she needs some rest."  
  
"Can I go in to see her?" asked Ryo. At this, the girl with long dark hair who had been standing in the corner for all of the exchange stepped forward.  
  
"May I go in to see her as well?" she asked. Doctor Kimuri nodded at the two cadets.  
  
"You may both go in for a little while, but remember she is sleeping and needs her rest, so do not disturb her."  
  
"Okay," Ryo said. The girl simply smiled and they both went into Ainsley's small room together.  
  
  
  
Ainsley lay peacefully on the bed in a deep sleep. The ocean breezes ruffled her reddish hair and it brushed across the large gash that was bandaged on her forehead. Ryo reached forward to pull her hair back when the dark haired girl whispered,  
  
"Don't, you might wake her." Ryo looked at the girl, who smiled. "I'm Xaria, Ainsley's roommate. You must be Ryo." Ryo felt a twinge of pride.  
  
"Since you know who I am, Ainsley must talk about me a lot, hunh?" Xaria laughed slightly at this.  
  
"Sometimes," she replied. Ryo gave her a look. She laughed at him again,  
  
"I'm not saying she doesn't talk about you, but, come on, I could have heard your name from Instructor Trepe a couple of minutes ago." Ryo bristled at the mention of the instructor's name.  
  
"What was she thinking?" Ryo asked.  
  
"Who? Instructor Trepe?" without waiting for a reply from him, Xaria continued, "I agree with Instructor Trepe. Ainsley, although not overconfident in any visible ways, was becoming too used to breezing through her studies. She needed a challenge."  
  
"She's fourteen!" Ryo raised his voice and Xaria shushed him as Ainsley stirred in her sleep.  
  
"She's also one of the smartest students Balamb Garden has ever had," said Xaria. She looked back and Ainsley lying on the Infirmary bed. "She never would have admitted it, but I think she was glad to have to work for this one." Ryo just shook his head and also looked at Ainsley. In her sleep, she looked so young and defenseless. He had often wondered what had persuaded Ainsley's parents to send her to a ruthless mercenary school at such a young age. 


	4. Four

Square's characters don't belong to me…my characters do.  
  
  
  
She heard the whispers as soon as she entered the classroom for her test.  
  
"Did you hear about that girl who faced Leviathan? I heard she beat it in a record time!"  
  
"Man! She's only fourteen! I wish these little upstarts would stop showing us older cadets up and learn their place!"  
  
"Well I heard she just barely survived. The GF probably took pity on her and let her win."  
  
"Stupid! GF's don't let anyone win!"  
  
Xaria shook her head and sighed. The rumor mill at Balamb Garden had been in full force ever since word had gotten out about Ainsley's successful junction with Leviathan. Ainsley herself was staying in the Infirmary for a few days, per order of the sometimes overzealous Doctor Kimuri. Xaria shot the gossiping cadets a look before sitting in her assigned desk and console. As she placed her books on the desktop, her deskmate leaned over.  
  
"So, Sari, ready to die?" Xaria laughed quietly at the sandy-haired boy.  
  
"Some of us actually study, Tibor" she replied. Tibor put a mock startled look on his face.  
  
"Me? Not study? Pfft! That's absolute nonsense." Xaria shot him a bemused look and pulled out the latest issue of Combat King out from under his book pile. Tibor put a look of horror on his face.  
  
"Those horrible librarians have been sneaking Combat King into my book pile again!" Xaria playfully whacked his arm with the magazine and then handed it back to him. "Hey," he grinned, "It is assigned reading by Zell.  
  
"True," admitted Xaria, "but I'm in that class and this issue hasn't been assigned yet." Tibor clasped both of his hands to his chest.  
  
"Foiled again!" he exclaimed as Xaria laughed at his antics. She then elbowed him to be quiet at Instructor Barak entered the room to administer the written exam.  
  
"Before I start the test," the instructor began, "I'd like to congratulate all of you for making it this far. The training and studying you have had to do in order to prepare for this exam has been immense, and you all have borne it well."  
  
"Awww…I bet you say that to all your classes," Tibor whispered. Xaria placed her hand over her mouth and repressed the urge to giggle.  
  
"Remember, you must score above 80% to pass and move on to the field exam," Instructor Barak continued, "good luck to all of you. You may now turn on your consoles." There was a chorus of soft beeps from around the classroom as all of the students turned on their computers. Xaria studied the first question.  
  
[1. Name one monster that lives on the Alcauld Plains, and two of the spells it carries.]  
  
'Well, that's easy,' thought Xaria to herself. She answered,  
  
[ The Bite Bug is one of the common monsters on the Alcauld Plains. It carries the spells Fire and Scan. Occasionally, with a stronger Bite Bug, the Fire spell is substituted by the more powerful Fira.]  
  
Xaria breezed through the next twelve questions, all on simple monsters, before coming upon a harder history question.  
  
[14. Esthar and Galbaldia have fought two large wars. Name one of them and how it affected the society of each.]  
  
Xaria sighed. It was going to be a long exam.  
  
Two hours later, Xaria entered the cafeteria. She could barely think as facts about various monsters, weapons, and political events flashed through her mind. She quickly grabbed a salad and then sat down at a table by herself.  
  
"Yo! Sari!" someone called. Xaria looked up from her tray to see Tibor enthusiastically waving for her to sit at his table. Xaria was surprised. Although Tibor was an entertaining deskmate in class, she couldn't remember ever talking to him outside of class. She shrugged and picked up her tray to move. Tibor slid over a seat and she sat down between him and a large dark-haired boy who she vaguely recognized from her classes. Tibor pointed at the boy.  
  
"Sari, this is Calder, he's in our class." Tibor said. Calder held out his hand and Xaria shook it.  
  
"Xaria" she introduced herself.  
  
"So you're the person that Tibor always tries to cheat off of. I've heard about you. You're pretty smart." Calder told Xaria. Xaria blushed slightly.  
  
"Not really," she replied, "I just study a lot, unlike some other people around here." She shot a look at Tibor who whistled aimlessly and averted his eyes.  
  
"Yeah I've been telling him to study every since he was my roommate, but he just won't listen." Calder said. Xaria smiled. She then looked at Calder's pile of books and noticed that he had the book on Sorceresses that she had been looking for.  
  
"So you're the kid who keeps taking out this book!" she exclaimed, plucking the book from his pile, "I've been looking for this book for weeks. I could have used it before the exam!" Calder looked sheepish.  
  
"Yeah, I guess it's kind of overdue," he admitted, "But it's really interesting!" Xaria smiled.  
  
"I forgive you. Actually, I'd still like to read it. Can I borrow it?"  
  
Calder shrugged, "Sure, just return it kind of soon, you know. It's overdue." Xaria nodded and added the book to her pile.  
  
"Hel-lo! I'm still here!" said Tibor. Calder and Xaria both looked at him. "So," he continued, slightly embarrassed, "What did you guys think of the exam?"  
  
"The monster questions and weapons questions weren't bad, but the history was kind of hard." Xaria told him. Calder nodded in agreement.  
  
"I hated some of the monster questions, they were all so bor-ing. I didn't mind the history though. I like history."  
  
"Yuck," Xaria said to Calder, "He didn't study and he's still going to do better than me!"  
  
"My dear Xaria," Tibor said, "There is no way that you are going to do worse than I did. I don't study, remember?" Xaria narrowed her eyes at the slight term of endearment that Tibor used.  
  
"I'm not your 'dear' anything, Tibor," she said aridly.  
  
"Ouch!" clasped one hand over his heart and put the other across his forehead as if he was about to faint, "Your words, my lady, are crueler than the sharpest sword." Xaria wanted to giggle at his antics, but put a stern look on her face.  
  
"Let that be a lesson to you then," she told him.  
  
"Oooh, shot down," remarked Calder. Xaria giggled, and then rose from her seat.  
  
"I'm going to visit a friend in the Infirmary. I'll see you both later," she said, gathering her books in her arms.  
  
"Wait!" said Tibor. "You don't mean that little girl that junctioned Leviathan, do you?" Xaria's eyes narrowed. Tibor looked slightly startled by her defensive reaction. "Hey," he continued, "I just want to make sure she's alright. I mean, I heard that she was only fourteen." Xaria simply nodded and then turned to Calder.  
  
"Thanks for the book," she said, waving goodbye. Tibor watched her as she left.  
  
"Oh man," said his friend, "You've got it bad." Tibor shot Calder a look.  
  
"Shut up." 


	5. Five

No, the characters of Final Fantasy Eight do not belong to me. All other characters in The True Meaning of SeeD do belong to me. I know they're great, but don't use them without my permission.  
  
  
  
Quistis sat down in one of the booths in the library and stifled a yawn. She looked at the clock and smiled. He was late, again. She drummed her nails on the desktop in random rhythm and then opened a folder of papers and spread them out onto the desk. She had almost compiled enough information on GFs to start her book that she had been wanting to write. She felt that by writing a book, some medical professional would read it and possibly come up with some solution to the memory loss that occurs with long-term junctioning. As she began to sift through the papers she felt a tap on her shoulder.  
  
"You're late," she said without turning around as Zell sat down in the chair next to her. Quistis then lifted her head from her work and smiled at Zell, who smiled back.  
  
"So, I heard she passed," said Zell.  
  
"How could you not have heard?" replied Quistis, wryly.  
  
"Quisty," Zell started, using her old childhood nickname. Quistis laughed to herself. Zell only used her nickname when he was serious about something, the opposite of others who used a title when they wanted to be serious. "Are you sure about her?" Quistis gave him an odd look. "I mean," Zell continued, "I know she's smart and everything, but maybe you should give her a break for a little while." Quistis looked at him,  
  
"Zell, this is the smartest student I've ever had. Do you know what a SeeD she would be?" Zell nodded and then shook his head,  
  
"Just cut her a little slack, I think sometimes she'd rather have fun than be studying all the time. She isn't you, you know." Quistis sighed,  
  
"I know, it's just…I couldn't stand to see it if she wasted all of her potential and slipped into mediocrity." Zell nodded in empathy.  
  
"Well, if you lay off of her a little bit, maybe she'll realize her potential all on her own." Quistis sighed again and put her head in her hands.  
  
"I don't know Zell…maybe…I'm not a good instructor." Zell put his arm around Quistis and shook his head.  
  
"You know, Quisty, that the Headmaster just wanted you to join our group to eventually defeat Ultimecia. That whole inadept…inadequate…"  
  
"Incompetent," Quistis mumbled.  
  
"Whatever, the point is that it wasn't true. I mean, Squall turned out alright and he was under your instruction then."  
  
"Yeah, but it took Rinoa to make him come out of his shell…" Quistis was now on the verge of tears, "Why can't I ever be that person for someone?" She sounded incoherent, but Zell somehow understood what she was trying to say.  
  
"You know what, Quis?" he said. She lifted her head up. "I think you need a vacation." Quistis shook her head,  
  
"Not a chance, I have too much work to do. I have to prepare my students, especially Ainsley, to pass the written exam in a few days and…" Zell shushed her.  
  
"Instructor Barak administered an exam today, I'm sure he wouldn't mind giving your students the exam."  
  
"But…" Zell shook his head enthusiastically,  
  
"Nope, I'm going to Headmaster Cid's office right now," and with that Zell left Quistis with her scattered notes. Quistis sighed and began to pour over her information again.  
  
* * *  
  
"So you see, I think she really needs a vacation," Zell finished. Headmaster Cid nodded in reply.  
  
"Thank you, Zell. You are dismissed." Zell saluted smartly and left. Headmaster Cid turned to his desk and looked over the statistics from Quistis's classes. All of her students were doing perfectly well, and there had been very few complaints to his office from her students. He ran his fingers through his now white tufts of hair on either side of his head. Now 58, Cid still joked about being an 'old man' and not being able to do anything anymore. He had even thought of retiring as the Balamb Headmaster, but a few things had caught his attention and he felt the need to pay attention to them. Although he had been one of the masterminds behind the plan to defeat the Sorceress, he felt, somehow, that his job was still not done. However, when he did retire, he already had plans for Quistis to take his position and become Headmistress of Balamb Garden. He sighed. Possibly, he shouldn't have pushed Quistis so hard when she was younger. In retrospect, he also shouldn't have told her that she was incompetent as an Instructor when he fired her. Although he couldn't have possibly told her about her true mission as a SeeD… Cid shrugged his heavy thoughts away and began filling out a form that granted Quistis a one week vacation at Fisherman's Horizon. 


	6. Six

Standard disclaimers apply. Thanks to Scorcha Zell for giving me such a nice review!  
  
  
  
  
  
As Xaria entered the Infirmary, Doctor Kimuri pointed her in the direction of Ainsley's room. Ainsley was sitting up on her bed, and the bandage had been removed from her forehead, revealing a small scar that was nowhere near as noticeable as Commander Lionheart's had been. Xaria smiled and sat on the edge of Ainsley's bed. Ainsley smiled back and then continued to eat a hotdog that had been brought to her.  
  
"Instructor Zell would be jealous that they gave you one in advance, but he still can't get one by waiting in line." Ainsley blushed at Zell's name and pointed to another hotdog on her cafeteria tray.  
  
"He could have this one if her really wanted it, I don't think I'm very hungry." Xaria nodded and watched her finish off the rest of the hotdog. When she was done, she put the tray on a nearby table, placed her hands in her lap, and looked at Xaria.  
  
"So, Sari, what have I missed?"  
  
"Well," Xaria began, "You've been in the Infirmary for three days. Rumors are flying about how a fourteen year old girl could defeat Leviathan." Ainsley smiled at this and softly laughed. "Meanwhile, Instructor Barak administered the first written exam of the semester today…" Ainsley gasped at this.  
  
"That means that I only have…" she trailed off. Xaria nodded in reply,  
  
"Yours will be in four days," she said. Ainsley squeezed her hands together nervously.  
  
"What was it like?" she asked Xaria.  
  
"It wasn't too bad. There are three basic questions; monster questions, weapons questions, and history questions." Ainsley made a face. She had already known this about the test and, although she loved the history questions, and monster information wasn't that hard to remember, she sometimes had a hard time keeping her weaponry straight.  
  
"Don't worry," said Xaria after seeing Ainsley's panicked look, "I'm sure you'll do fine." Ainsley nodded. There was a small pause.  
  
"So," Ainsley started, "How do you think you did?" Xaria paused to look at the time and then said,  
  
"The scores are being posted as we speak, would you like to come and see how I did?" Ainsley nodded,  
  
"As long as Doctor Kimuri doesn't mind." They walked outside of Ainsley's room. Ainsley placed the tray with the uneaten hotdog on the counter. Doctor Kimuri looked up.  
  
"I'm going to see the results of the written exam that was given today. Would you see that Instructor Zell gets this hotdog?" Ainsley blushed slightly as she said this. Doctor Kimuri smiled and nodded.  
  
"Take care of yourself!" she called out after Ainsley as the two cadets left the Infirmary. As they walked down the hallways Ainsley paused to take in the Garden's beauty. After being cooped up in an Infirmary room for a few days, she could finally appreciate the sweeping architecture with it's intricate carved designs, and the fountains that wove their way around the Garden. Although Galbaldia Garden was the more famous mercenary school, there was no question that Balamb was the most beautiful. Xaria laughed as Ainsley stood in the middle of the hallway with her eyes closed. As Ainsley opened her eyes and began walking again Xaria remarked,  
  
"It's nice to be free isn't?" Ainsley laughed and nodded. Together they both made their way to the large computer screen in the main hallway of the Garden. There was already a large crowd gathered in front of the board, and more students were pouring in from the main and circular hallways and the elevator.  
  
"Wow," said Ainsley. "Did this many people take the exam?" Xaria shook her head negatively,  
  
"Most of them are like you," she replied, "They've come to see how a friend did on the exam. Also, people come to see how other people of a similar ability did on the exam so they can predict how well they will do." Ainsley wrinkled her nose,  
  
"Isn't that a little stuck-up?" she asked. "I mean saying, 'oh, this person did well and I'm better than them so obviously I'm going to do well.'" Xaria shrugged.  
  
"Maybe it is," she told Ainsley, "But that's the way it works I suppose." She paused. "I'm going to try to make my way through the crowd to see my score. You stay here, okay?" Ainsley nodded as Xaria disappeared into the crowd.  
  
Xaria managed to push her way to a spot where she could see the screen clearly. She followed her finger in the air down the list of names and percents.  
  
…Shubat, Kyla-78%……Xaria cringed. She felt bad for this girl, who had missed the cutoff by a mere two percent. She continued down the list….Shwinn, Brelan- 92%….Shylu, Tibor-81%…..She smiled. She felt happy that Tibor had passed. Her happiness was fleeting though, and Xaria took a deep breath, her name was nest on the list. She squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them again to look at the screen.  
  
…Soucie, Xaria-95% A large grin spread across Xaria's face and she couldn't control her happiness. She jumped into the air, laughing, and landed on another person. Putting her hands to her mouth in shock, Xaria pulled herself off of the floor and turned around to help the person that she had landed on. The blond boy on the floor had a familiar grin.  
  
"I'm happy to see you too, Sari!" Tibor said. Xaria burst out laughing and held out her hand to pull Tibor off of the ground. "I'm guessing that you made it," Tibor continued, "Congratulations." Xaria smiled and nodded. She opened her mouth to tell him that he had made it as well but he held up a hand to stop her. "Don't," he said, "I'd rather find out for myself." Xaria nodded and then smiled at him again before disappearing into the crowd. Tibor watched her go as he shook his head and smiled.  
  
As Xaria walked towards her, Ainsley knew that she didn't have to wait for Xaria to tell her how she had done on the exam. The bright smile on Xaria's face told Ainsley all she needed to know. Ainsley ran up to her older friend and hugged her.  
  
"Congratulations," she told Xaria, "I knew you'd pass." Xaria smiled at her and said,  
  
"I'm sure you'll pass too, and then we can take the field exam together!" Ainsley smiled and shook her head at her friend's confidence.  
  
"Let's take one thing at a time, shall we?" she responded. "You now know of course, I'm going to have to pump you for all of the information about the test." Xaria grinned and the two friends walked away from the main hallway and back to the Dormitory. 


	7. Seven

People hardly ever review…so sad… ( Oh well, as long as you read it, I guess. Ummm…standard disclaimers are in place.  
  
  
  
  
  
There was only so much writing, sifting through notes, and reading of books that one could take. Especially when the person who was doing these said things was extremely nervous over the performance of her students on a grueling test. She had paced back and forth in a set pattern so many times that the wood floor of the small house that she was staying in was beginning to show scuff marks in that exact pattern. She sighed and gazed out the window as the calm ocean waves lapped at the rocky shoreline. She looked in the other direction to the sunlight as it glinted off of the glassy surface of the solar panels and watched as the windmills lazily turned in the gentle sea breezes. Looking back at the beach, she saw a group of girls in bathing suits lay down towels at the sandy water's edge. She herself could be out there doing that, she thought. She sighed once more and continued her pacing, before setting down at the small desk in the corner. She sifted through her notes and began to read the page that described every last attack of the GF Diablos, and the patterns of neurological stimulation in the brain of the summoner. Quite simply, Quistis Trepe was going insane.  
  
Quistis had never been on a vacation before. As a matter of fact, the thought had never occurred to her. As a cadet, she was never allowed to take a vacation except for the recess between semesters, and even in recess she had spent hours in the library, studying various subjects that piqued her interest. As a SeeD, she assumed that a no vacation policy came with the profession. She had never heard of another SeeD taking a vacation, so why should she go on vacation herself? Besides, there were always tests to correct as a SeeD Instructor, and when she had been a simple SeeD, she had always been involved in the ultimate mission of defeating the Sorceress. So far, she hated this vacation. She had already finished correcting all of her tests, and was sick of reading, studying, and writing about GFs. This led to boredom, and subsequently, nervousness and worry. Quistis could have gone to the beach, or any of the small, quaint town establishments and attractions, but she would have felt as if she were wasting time. Quistis hated wasting time more than anything. Unfortunately, since she refused to get out and actually take part in something relaxing, she began to focus on various worries and thoughts that had been building up since her recertification as an Instructor. She wrinkled her brow further. Somehow, these thoughts constantly returned to one focus or person. Seifer Almasy.  
  
Quistis squeezed her eyes shut to see if she could concentrate enough to recall Seifer's face. It didn't take long before the cocky blond appeared, complete with his trademark smirk he had usually reserved for his 'favorite instructor.' Quistis opened her eyes and let her head fall to the desk in melodramatic disgust. She knew that she shouldn't be dwelling on Seifer. After all, she thought to herself, it was Seifer's own fault that he never became a SeeD. He always wanted to be in charge and never took orders from anyone. He had insulted all of his previous instructors and had continued, in an even more ruthless fashion, upon joining Quistis's classes. The only thing he had done a decent job at, was being the Disciplinary Committee head, with his faithful deputies, Fujin and Rajin. Quistis lifted her head up off of the desk and pounded her fist on the desktop in a rare show of emotion. She couldn't understand. What was it that made Seifer so magnetic? She had never encountered any problems with Fujin or Rajin, except for the unfortunate fact that the two of them would follow Seifer with a fierce loyalty that Quistis had never come across before. Quistis narrowed her eyes in concentration and intense thought. She simply couldn't understand what such a rude, selfish, arrogant, bossy, and annoying man had done to inspire such devotion. It wasn't only Fujin and Rajin either. Xu and the Headmaster had been tried to graduate Seifer twice before Seifer has come into her own classes. Seifer inspired something in people that made you want to stick by him and help him, despite his constant rude comments and refusal to obey orders. He even inspired something in herself…  
  
'No!' a voice cried out in Quistis's mind. 'You don't really care about Seifer. He has done nothing to deserve your attention, kindness, or even curiosity. You're just dwelling on the fact that he was the student that led to the Headmaster's declaration of your incompetence. You can't really care about Seifer.' Quistis shook her head in an attempt to clear the voice from her mind. Was that it? She thought to herself. Maybe I'm the one being selfish. But if I couldn't graduate Seifer…does that really mean that I'm a bad instructor? 


	8. Eight

I like writing this story, although many characters are not mine and are borrowed from square.  
  
  
  
  
  
Ainsley sat alone in her half of the suite. Almost all of the lights had been shut, and the Garden was highlighted by the soft spotlights that were only turned on in the very early hours of the morning. Had Ainsley been outside, she might have noticed how the lights gave the Garden an ethereal glowing appearance. However, Ainsley was curled up in her desk chair with her small reading lamp on, frantically trying to memorize any last bits of information. This had become a regular habit with her ever since she had gone with Xaria to see her score on the exam. Ainsley had possibly, never been this worried about a test before. Occasionally she had even wished for Instructor Trepe to come back from vacation so she could bombard her with various weaponry questions. Instructor Barak, although fairly nice, didn't have the depth of knowledge added with the perspective that Instructor Trepe had. Ainsley sighed. The perspective was most likely a result of fighting in the last Sorceress War. She wondered what is was like to be in a Sorceress War. Especially when the Sorceress was your mother of sorts. Ainsley shook her head free of excess thought and continued to study the page. It was describing to her the Flame Saber in perfect detail. Slowly her head began to fall towards the page, as if some force of gravity was trying to pull her through it. After another five minutes, her head fell on the page, and she finally began to sleep.  
  
Ainsley woke up the next morning to the incessant prodding of Xaria.  
  
"Ains! Wake up! You're going to miss your test!" Test? Test?!  
  
"Shit!" Ainsley yelled. She quickly scrambled out of the desk chair and smoothed her wrinkled uniform. She briefly thought about changing from her uniform into her battle clothes, but one look at the clock told her that she couldn't spare the time. She closed her book and was about to run out of the room when she was stopped by Xaria, who gave her a brief hug.  
  
"Good luck," Xaria told her. Ainsley shook her head at her sloppiness and then smiled at Xaria as she dashed out of the room. Ainsley ran through the hallways, occasionally bumping into other cadets, and walked into the room, hiding her breathlessness from the running. She calmly walked to her seat. There were a few students missing, so at least she wasn't the last one in the classroom. Instructor Barak gave her a look, as if to say that he would have expected her to be there earlier, but didn't say anything. Ainsley breathed a sigh of relief as she slid into her seat next to another girl, Pyri Alter. Ryo waved to Ainsley as she sat down, and Ainsley smiled and waved shyly back. She could see a large grin on Ryo's deskmate's face.  
  
"Wow," Pyri said with a sigh. Ainsley turned to her. "It must be nice to have a stud like Ryo for a boyfriend." Ainsley shrugged. Ryo was good-looking she supposed, but she wasn't really dating him because he looked nice in a Garden uniform.  
  
"Yeah," Ainsley simply replied.  
  
"Although Moss is pretty cute too," Pyri said and gave an enthusiastic wave to Ryo's deskmate, who smiled and waved back. Ainsley shook her head and tried to clear her mind in order to prepare for the test.  
  
"So how long have you and Ryo been going out?" Pyri asked, interrupting Ainsley's efforts of preparation.  
  
"uhhh…a couple of months I guess," Ainsley replied. She really did know the answer but didn't feel like discussing her boyfriend immediately before a test. She closed her eyes and began to envision the page in the weaponry manual that she had been reading. Page one…gunblades. The elementary gunblade was the Revolver, then the Shear Trigger, then…  
  
"You guess? You mean you don't know? How can you not know?" Pyri, apparently, was not to be deterred. Ainsley turned to her, annoyance was now visible on her face.  
  
"I'm trying to review for a test, maybe I'll know after. Can you please talk to me after it's over?" Ainsley asked coolly. Pyri nodded and smiled.  
  
"Yeah, I should have studied, probably."  
  
"Yeah…" Ainsley replied to this latest remark, which had made her even more amused and disgusted with Pyri. As Ainsley turned back to her blank console to recall more weaponry before the test, Instructor Barak rose from his desk chair to stand and face the class.  
  
"I usually tell my classes how well they have done in preparation for this exam. Although I am only covering for Instructor Trepe, I am sure she has imposed an even more rigorous training program than my own. Congratulations for making it this far. Keep in mind that you must score an 80% or above to pass and continue on to the field exam. You may now turn on your consoles. Good luck to all of you." Instructor Barak walked back to seat himself at his desk, while all of the students turned on their computer consoles. Ainsley closed her eyes as she pressed the switch and heard the soft beep of the computer turning on. She then took a deep breath and opened her eyes to begin taking the test.  
  
[1. Name two spells you can draw from a T-Rexaur, and one item you can gain by defeating a T-Rexaur.]  
  
Ainsley nodded and smiled. She liked these animal questions. Although, she reminded herself, she mustn't get too confident. Xaria had told her that the first ten or so questions had been very easy and the rest of the questions had been challenging. She typed in her answer:  
  
[ Two spells you can draw from a T-Rexaur are Fire and Thunder, and you can gain a Dino Bone from defeating one.]  
  
[2. Name two tricks you can teach your dog by reading Pet Pals.]  
  
Ainsley quickly typed in:  
  
[ Two tricks you can teach your dog by reading Pet Pals magazine are Angelo Strike and Invincible Moon.]  
  
Ainsley breezed through questions 3 through 20. She had to pause on 21:  
  
[21. List the Gardens in the order that they were established, starting for the first established to the most recently established. List their respective and current Headmasters.]  
  
[ Balamb Garden- Headmaster Cid, Galbaldia Garden- Headmaster Martine, Trabia Garden- Headmaster Faylinn, Centra Garden- Headmaster Squall.]  
  
Ainsley sighed and continued with the test. She wasn't sure if Centra belonged on the list because the last she heard of it, the building wasn't complete and Headmaster Squall hadn't started to recruit cadets. She shrugged. It was one wrong question out of many, she thought to herself. A calm had now come over Ainsley and she finished the test rather quickly, in a little bit more than an hour.  
  
Ainsley walked down the second floor hallway before hearing someone call out her name.  
  
"Ainsley! Wait!" Ainsley turned around to see a breathless Pyri running after her down the hallway. Pyri caught up to her and bent over to put her hands on her knees as she attempted to catch her breath. Ainsley looked at her oddly as she pressed the button for the elevator. Most of her confusion was because Pyri was put through the rigorous physical training of a SeeD and was obviously out of breath from running down the hallway, and some of it was the apparent speed that the petite girl had finished her test in. From all of Ainsley's impressions of Pyri, she hadn't appeared that smart. Then again, thought Ainsley, the speed in which you finished a test didn't necessarily attribute itself to intelligence. Ainsley shrugged. Pyri seemed nice enough. She was cheerful and friendly, possibly a bit boy-crazy but…  
  
"Hunh?" Pyri called. Ainsley was snapped out of her reverie. She shook her head.  
  
"I'm sorry, did you say something, I'm kind of tired." Pyri shook her head.  
  
"I was just wondering why you shrugged," Pyri asked.  
  
"Just thinking, I guess," Ainsley replied.  
  
"Yuck!" Pyri said vehemently, and Ainsley couldn't help but smile. "How can you be thinking after a test like that?" Pyri finished. "Come on, the elevator's here. Lets go get lunch or something." With this, Pyri grabbed Ainsley's hand and dragged her into the elevator. 


	9. Nine

Thanks to the few that review my story. As always Ainsley, Xaria, Ryo, Moss, Tibor, Calder, Pyri, Instructor Barak, and any of my other original characters belong to me. Characters like Zell, Quistis, Headmaster Cid, and Squall don't belong to me and are from the game (obviously)  
  
  
  
  
  
Xaria angrily stepped forward and released a series of quick punches at the attacking grat. The grat blew some powder into the air before collapsing to the ground. Xaria sneezed and then fell to the ground with exhaustion. Zell quickly rushed forward to aid his fatigued student.  
  
"You alright?" he asked briefly, helping her up. She nodded and reached up with her long sleeve to wipe the sweat and dirt from her face. She then walked forward to collect a small sample of powder from the dead grat's body.  
  
"You know," Zell said to her, "You don't have to collect something from every monster that you defeat." Xaria nodded but continued to collect the sleep powder anyway. She always collected as much as she could after defeating a monster, feeling as if there would come a time when she might need it. Zell shook his head at her and then told her that her training session was over. Xaria nodded and walked out of the training center as Zell called out his next student to fight. Xaria quickly went back to her room, showered, and changed into her Garden uniform, before going to the cafeteria to eat. As she entered the cafeteria she could see Ainsley ahead of her in line, chatting with an eager-looking cadet with long black hair, braided around her head uniquely. Xaria thought that the cadet looked vaguely familiar, but didn't know her name. She turned around to observe the rest of the cafeteria. Students were chatting to each other eagerly and playing Triple Triad. Xaria could hear snippets of conversation about the test.  
  
"Did you get the one on all of the different Gardens?"  
  
"I didn't have that one, but the one about the Sorceress Wars was a bitch!"  
  
"Can you really get a curse spike from defeating a Jelleye? I don't think that's right?"  
  
"It's not, but when Jelleyes morph does anything particular happen to them?"  
  
Xaria shook her head at all of the nervous cadets.  
  
"Wow! I didn't even say anything and she's already shaking her head at me!" a voice was heard from behind Xaria. Xaria turned around with speed and surprise to face Tibor. She rolled her eyes,  
  
"Why do I keep bumping into you?" she asked. Tibor shrugged and smiled as he put his arm around her.  
  
"It's just your luck to continually bump into a handsome guy like me." Xaria snorted and politely removed his arm from her shoulders. A low chuckle came from behind Tibor.  
  
"Poor Tibor," the large boy behind him said, "He never gets a break." Xaria smiled and laughed at Calder's words. She then turned around to face one of the cafeteria workers.  
  
"I'll have a chicken sandwich please, and a salad," she ordered.  
  
"What? No hotdogs?" Tibor exclaimed. Calder nodded in agreement.  
  
"When there's hotdogs left," Calder told Xaria, "You just have to order them." Xaria shook her head at the two boys and walked out of the lunch line.  
  
"Hey!" Tibor called after her. Xaria looked back. "Save us a seat, okay?" Xaria nodded, and Tibor smiled back. For the first time, Xaria felt a funny feeling in her stomach. She shook it off quickly. She was probably just hungry, anyway. Especially after that grueling workout that Zell had put her through in the Training Center. Xaria sighed. The point of such a hard workout was to have discovered her Limit Break. Xaria was one of the few cadets left in her class who hadn't discovered what her Limit was. She had been overworking herself in the Training Center, hoping that somehow, she would become tired enough to tap into her Limit. Unfortunately, this hadn't occurred yet.  
  
"Earth to Xaria!" Tibor waved a hand enthusiastically in front of her face. Xaria quickly snapped out of her thoughts and rolled her eyes at Tibor. She then became thoughtful again.  
  
"Tibor," she asked seriously as he looked up from his plateful of hotdogs with a puzzled expression on his face. "What is it like to discover your Limit Break?" Tibor looked at her in surprise.  
  
"You mean you haven't…" he trailed off at Xaria's glare. Obviously this was something that was bothering her a great deal. He held his hands up in an 'I surrender' position above the table. "Sorry," he said. Then he paused for a moment, contemplating her question, and continued, "You have to feel threatened enough and tired enough. Just being tired isn't enough." She nodded and he could tell by her slightly pale face and dulled green eyes that she was quite tired. He also knew that she was one of those people who would over work herself in the Training Center in order to discover her Limit. He smiled and felt a small surge of pride at her dedication and tenacity. Xaria looked at him, puzzled. He cleared his throat and continued.  
  
"It's like getting a second wind of energy, only you focus it in one burst. Suddenly you feel revitalized and energetic and the name of an attack pops into your head. When you call out the name you automatically do the attack. It doesn't matter if you've never attacked like that before. Does this make any sense?" 'Not really,' Xaria thought to herself, but she nodded at Tibor anyway.  
  
"Don't worry," Tibor said while shoving a hotdog into his mouth, "I'm shure you'll dishcover eet shoon." Xaria shook her head and hid her amused smile.  
  
"Cover your mouth," she simply replied. Xaria then looked up as Calder pulled up a chair and sat down with his tray, also laden with cafeteria hotdogs.  
  
"So," Calder said to Xaria, "Have you finished that book yet?" Xaria shook her head. With all of her extra time devoted to discovering her Limit before she took the field exam, she hadn't had the time to read anything.  
  
"I think I'm just going to return it and borrow it again later," she said. Or maybe I'll ask Blythe to reserve it for me?"  
  
"Blythe?" Calder asked.  
  
"You know, the library girl," Tibor replied, his mouth devoid of hotdog at the moment, "She's got pigtails, kind of quiet…what?" His question was directed at Xaria and Calder who were sharing a look over Tibor's knowledge of the library girl.  
  
"Nothing." Xaria said, suppressing the urge to laugh at Tibor. She then pulled out her Triple Triad cards. "Anyone want to play? I aquired some new ones in the past few days."  
  
"You're on." Said Tibor, pulling out his own deck with a grin. "Prepare to be destroyed." Xaria rolled her eyes once more and began to choose her cards. 


	10. Ten

Thanks for the nice reviews that people have been sending me lately. It's really good to get the feedback (finally). Once again all of Squaresoft's characters are borrowed, but don't use my characters without my permission.  
  
  
  
  
  
Quistis slowly lifted her head off of her desk. A page of notes came with it. Annoyed, she pulled the piece of paper off of her forehead, where it had been stuck there by the heat and humidity that prevailed through the little fishing town. She quietly sighed. 'Why am I here?' she thought to herself. Zell's smiling, enthusiastic face immediately swam into her vision for a brief moment as Quistis groaned and fought the urge to place her head back down on the desk. Zell was wrong. Maybe a vacation would have been the right idea for anyone else, but it wasn't for her. Zell was different. The main difference being that Zell had numerous friends and acquaintances due to his caring and rather loud personality. Quistis didn't really mind not having many friends. She had Zell at Balamb and had recently been getting more aquainted with Barak Volpe, another instructor at the Garden. She always had the rest of the old orphanage gang of course. Unfortunately, Zell had been the only member of the group to stay at Balamb. Selphie had gone back to Trabia to help rebuild her home Garden, and Irvine had followed her. Quistis smiled, amused by the memories of the womanizer, Irvine. Although he put up his macho, gun and women aficionado front, Quistis knew that Irvine would probably follow Selphie to the end of the earth. Ellone had become a diplomat in Galbaldia. Quistis didn't mind Ellone now, although she hadn't liked her very much when they had been back in the orphanage, mainly due to her closeness with Squall. Squall. Quistis looked dreamily out the window. Squall had been at Balamb for a while, but then had been sent, by Headmaster Cid, to Centra to oversee the establishment of a SeeD Garden there. Squall. Quistis sighed. Rinoa had gone with him too. She wanted so badly to hate Rinoa, and in a sense, Quistis resented her very much. She also couldn't come to truly hate her. Rinoa was nice and kind to everyone. She was always smiling and happy, although not annoyingly so, as Selphie could be sometimes. She could be trusted with your deepest secrets, and would trust you with hers. Quistis banged her hand down on the desk in anger and bitterness. Rinoa had everything. Good looks, a great personality, no wonder Squall had preferred Rinoa to herself, Quistis, the somewhat awkward and shy instructor who had followed him around. Even before she was his instructor, she could remember breaking up many fights between Squall and his nemesis, Seifer. Seifer. Damn it! Quistis had promised herself to stop brooding over the failure of her former student. She once again resisted the urge to lay her head down on the desk. Why had he failed? Had he really not been Garden material? He was a strong talented fighter. She simply couldn't understand where she had gone wrong. Exhausted and fed up with her own thoughts, Quistis finally decided to venture out of the small house that she had been cooped up in for the past four days and go to the beach.  
  
The sun glinted off of the sunglasses that Quistis had donned for the occasion. She walked along the rocky shore, until she came to a small, sandy area. Quistis looked with disgust off into the distance at the crowded strips of sand that lined one side of the town. She was glad to have found a small inlet where there were no people. Perhaps she could lay down and finally relax. She spread her towel out on the sand and begin to lay down on it when a flash of blue from behind a rock caught her eye. She groaned inwardly to herself. Wasn't anything sacred? Wasn't there one place in this town that Quistis could go to be alone? She rose from her spot and angrily walked around the large rocks to yell at the trespasser. To her surprise, as she reached the other side of the rocks, she found no one. The rocky cliffs were deserted. She shook her head.  
  
"Great, Quisty," she murmured out loud to herself, "Now you're seeing things." She shook her head once more and turned around to walk back to her towel. As she did so another flash of blue caught her eye. She whirled around again, but saw nothing. Quistis began to scan the cliffs closely this time. She noticed that there was a small, natural tent-like cave, formed by two rocks. She took a step towards the cave and froze as she saw another flash of royal blue. She also heard a slight scuffling and a harried footstep. Quistis reached her hand into the pocket of her shorts and felt the cool metal of her Save the Queen. She knew that she would be able to defend herself should the occasion arise, so she allowed her curiosity get the better of her and walked rapidly towards the small cave. Suddenly, to her surprise, a tall woman with grey hair and one eye covered by an eye patch came out of the small cliff dwelling. Quistis froze and gasped in astonishment.  
  
"Fujin?" she asked in surprise, removing her sunglasses and squinting her eyes to make sure that the woman she was seeing was indeed Fujin, one half of Seifer's infamous posse.  
  
"QUISTIS." Fujin said simply. Quistis noticed that Fujin's arms were draped carelessly at her sides. Quistis removed her hand from her weapon and dropped it to her own side, knowing that this time the two women would not be fighting each other. Quistis was speechless. She couldn't find any words to express herself to the grey-haired woman. Although Fujin and Quistis had never been very close, and, in fact, had been pitted against each other due to the actions of Seifer and the loyalty of Fujin herself, Quistis had always felt a small admiration for the albino woman. Her ferocity in battle and her undying loyalty to Seifer were to be admired. Fujin took another step forward towards Quistis and held out her hand. Quistis reached forward and shook it firmly. Fujin smiled. Quistis was slightly astonished. She could never really remember Fujin smiling, ever. Quistis smiled back and dropped her hand. Fujin nodded and motioned for Quistis to follow her into the cave. 


	11. Eleven

Lalala, once again, thanks for the nice reviews! Of course Zell doesn't belong to me, I'm just borrowing him from the game, and Blythe too really.  
  
  
  
  
  
Xaria entered the library with the large hardcover book, 'The Threat of the Sorceress' clasped firmly in her hands. As she walked up to the library desk she nearly bumped into Zell, who had been gazing off into space.  
  
"Oh, sorry Xaria. Didn't see you there I guess." Xaria nodded and smiled. "Hey!" Zell suddenly asked, as if something had just donned on him, "Was it Ainsley that sent me those hotdogs?" Xaria nodded again.  
  
"She doesn't really like them," Xaria replied. Zell smiled.  
  
"Tell her thanks a lot!" he said enthusiastically. Xaria laughed,  
  
"I will," she said. Zell nodded and then put one of his heads nervously behind his head as if he were scratching it.  
  
"She's a nice girl, Ainsley," he continued, "I hope she does well on that test."  
  
"Yeah…" Xaria replied, "I'm sure she won't really have a problem. Although…" Xaria added as an afterthought, "I think she misses Instructor Trepe. She would never admit to it, however." Zell smiled.  
  
"I'm sure Quisty would be glad to hear it. She's on vacation in FH though." Xaria looked confused.  
  
"Pardon me for asking," she began politely, "But Instructor Trepe doesn't really seem like the type to go off on random vacations. Is she alright?"  
  
"She fine," Zell assured her. "Quis was thinking too much, so I kinda made her go on vacation, you know?"  
  
"Oh…" Xaria trailed off. Zell smiled and scratched behind his head nervously again. "So," Xaria began again, "Where's Blythe?" Zell looked slightly shocked.  
  
"Ummm…I…I dunno. Break? I guess? Maybe?" he stammered. Xaria laughed inwardly. She had never seen the sometimes over confident Zell become this ruffled before.  
  
"Oh," she stated simply, "I thought that you were waiting for her." Zell looked even more nervous at this suggestion. "I suppose I was mistaken."  
  
"No, I am waiting for her. I mean sorta, well, not for her exactly. There's…ummm….a magazine I want to read. Yeah! The new Combat King comes in today and I wanted to be the first one with it!" Zell looked proud of himself for inventing this somewhat believable story. Xaria smiled,  
  
"Well then, since you are waiting for her, 'sorta'" Xaria quoted. Zell looked slightly more nervous. "Could you give this book to her and ask her to reserve it for me, please?" Zell blushed and nodded. Xaria fought the urge to giggle as she handed him the book.  
  
"Thanks," Xaria said aloud.  
  
"No problem," Zell said, slightly less nervous now. Xaria turned to walk away.  
  
"Wait!" Zell called out. Xaria turned around, slightly confused. "What time is your appointment down for tommorow. I kinda…forgot," Zell scratched his head sheepishly as he said this.  
  
"Noon," she said simply.  
  
"Gotcha," said Zell, "And don't worry," he started as Xaria began to walk away. "You'll get your Limit soon I think." Xaria nodded and left the library. Zell sighed and turned the book over in his hands. 'The Threat of the Sorceress.' Zell snorted to himself. He wondered what this so called Doctor Kagi had to say about the Sorceresses. 'Not all sorceresses are evil,' Zell thought to himself. 'Rinoa's a sorceress and she's really nice.'  
  
"Can I help you?" a soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Blythe was back from break. Zell blushed and shoved the book over the counter.  
  
"Uhhh…I need this reserved. For a friend," he hurriedly said. Blythe nodded and opened her mouth to say something to him. Before she could say a word however, Zell quickly mumbled something about having to leave and rushed out of the library. Blythe closed her mouth and sighed. She wished Zell wasn't so shy around her. She also wished that she wasn't so shy around Zell.  
  
Xaria entered her suite and noticed voices coming from Ainsley's room. Ainsley was usually aloof and quiet, so she didn't invite many friends into her dorm room. Curious, Xaria peered in to find Ainsley sitting on the floor playing Triple Triad with another girl with long black hair. Xaria recognized her as the girl she had seen Ainsley talking to in the cafeteria line. This girl noticed Xaria's presence before Ainsley herself did, and cleared her throat. Ainsley looked up at Xaria and smiled.  
  
"Hey Sari, what's going on?" she asked, cheerfully. Xaria smiled but didn't say anything. "This is Pyri, by the way," Ainsley added, pointing to the dark-haired girl.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Pyri," Xaria said, in the slightly formal manner in which she conducted almost all things, "I'm Xaria, Ainsley's roommate. Pyri waved enthusiastically.  
  
"Pyri Alter. I took the exam with Ainsley this morning," she said, upbeat. "I think I saw you in the cafeteria," Pyri continued. Xaria opened her mouth to say that she too had seen Pyri and Ainsley in the lunch line, but Pyri snapped her fingers and burst out,  
  
"I know! You were sitting with the blond-haired boy, Tibor, right? He's really cute. Are you dating him?" At this Ainsley looked up again at Xaria, curious. Xaria snorted loudly as she tried to keep herself from bursting into laughter.  
  
"Ah…no," Xaria managed to say.  
  
"That's too bad," Pyri said sincerely. "You'd better snap him up before someone else does, right Ainsley?" Pyri turned to look at Ainsley who, like Xaria, was attempting to control the urge to laugh. Ainsley cleared her throat.  
  
"Right, Pyri," she said between chuckles, "Right." Xaria rolled her eyes at the two of them and walked back to her own room. She smiled secretly to herself as she sat down at her desk. It was good to see Ainsley beginning to act like a fourteen-year old for once. Her smile then grew broader as she thought of the ridiculous idea that Ainsley's new friend had come up with. Her and Tibor. She snorted again. Tibor was nice enough, but he was very immature. She began to laugh as she thought of his various antics in her class and then felt a small pang of sorrow. She probably wouldn't be able to see Tibor again after they both took the field exam. That is, if they both passed. She shook her head to clear her mind of her doubts. She would pass. She had to pass.  
  
Xaria rose from her desk and left her room. As she walked along the corridor, she looked outside of the windows to watch dusk fall all around the Garden. The noise of the crickets and other various bugs began to take precedence over the hustle and bustle that the students created themselves. She could hear the soft trickling of water, coming from the numerous fountains built in to the Garden architecture. She sighed and the nagging thought foremost in her mind once again popped into her head. Her Limit Break. 'Well,' Xaria thought to herself, 'I could go to the Training Center and try to discover it myself…' Garden cadets were strongly discouraged not to discover their Limit Breaks on their own. Occasionally, of course, this couldn't be helped. Sometimes a student or a SeeD would accidentally tap into a Limit while on his or her own. In these cases, there wasn't much that could be done about it except to wait until the Limit passed and the damage was assessed. However, Limits were such powerful, raw attacks, that the Garden had a rule that stated all cadets and SeeDs purposely training to discover a Limit should always be accompanied by another SeeD, cadet, or even better an Instructor. Xaria thought back to a story Instructor Barak had told them once while discussing Limit training. Apparantly, a student had decided to discover their Limit on their own. They went out into the Alcauld Plains alone and ventured into the forests to fight a T-Rexaur. Unfortunately, when they did tap into their Limit, it automatically caused the Berserk status effect, making the student unaware of their actions, and causing the student to collapse, unconscious, in the forests. Supposedly they had died before any SeeD members had found them. Xaria was almost sure that this story was embellished to keep students from going Limit training on their own, but she found herself unwilling to take these chances and break the rules. 'I'll simply put in an hour of light training,' she told herself as she walked to the training center. 


	12. Twelve

Original characters belong to me, other characters from the game don't…blah blah blah. Thanks for all the nice reviews! Yay!  
  
  
  
  
  
Ryo's eyes followed Ainsley as she nodded her head in accordance with something the petite girl at her side with braided black hair. The pair of cadets was walking out of the cafeteria after finishing their meal. Ryo had wanted to talk to Ainsley, but he hadn't gotten the chance to because of the bubbly, annoying girl that had been following her around ever since she had finished the test. Ryo pounded his fist on the cafeteria table subconsciously. Moss looked at him.  
  
"Girlfriend's ignoring you, eh?" Moss teased lightly. Ryo replied to his comment with a glare. Moss placed his hands above the small dining table in a submissive gesture.  
  
"Don't blame me," Moss said, "I didn't do anything."  
  
"Why is she ignoring me?" Ryo sadly asked, "It's not just today, with that girl who keeps looking at you." Moss sheepishly scratched behind his head.  
  
"What can I say? Women love me," Moss said confidently. Ryo shook his head at Moss, who, despite the fact that his comment was said in a facetious tone, was right. He often had female cadets following him in the hallways, coming up to talk to him, offering him various favors… Ryo shook his head to clear his mind. He didn't really care that Moss was popular with women. It wasn't really something Ryo desired for himself.  
  
"She's been avoiding me ever since she faced Leviathan," Ryo sighed. Moss good-naturedly patted him on the back.  
  
"I'm sure she's just been busy. You know, studying and stuff. I mean, you have too."  
  
"Yeah, something you might want to do more often," Ryo said pointedly.  
  
"Whatever," Moss said, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders. "The point is that both of you have been really busy. Especially Ainsley. She's, like, Miss Super-Student of Balamb Garden. Maybe she just wanted her head clear for the test. Becoming a SeeD is obviously something very important to her." Ryo looked up from the table at Moss, a bemused expression on his face.  
  
"Since when did you become so smart Doctor Brimhall?" Moss shrugged.  
  
"I'm not really smart. I just pay attention to people. They're just interesting, I guess," he told Ryo.  
  
"Whatever," Ryo said. Then he proceeded to change the subject. "So," he asked Moss, "How do you think you did on the SeeD exam?" Moss shrugged.  
  
"I probably did alright. I doubt I failed, but I probably didn't get above a ninety, either," Moss said. Ryo studied his friend for a moment. Moss was very odd sometimes. Ryo couldn't understand how, when he made statements like, 'I doubt I failed,' and 'Women love me,' he didn't sound like a braggart. Every statement Moss made seemed so calculated, as if he only said certain things to certain people for numerous specific, tiny reasons that only he understood.  
  
"Are you okay?" Moss's voice pulled Ryo out of his thoughts.  
  
"Hey," Moss continued, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure Ainsley will start talking to you within a day." Ryo just smiled and nodded. That hadn't been what he was thinking about, and he didn't feel like talking about it anymore.  
  
"So how do you think you did?" Moss asked him. Ryo shrugged. He wasn't like Moss. If he said confidently that he passed, he was afraid it would jinx him somehow and he wouldn't pass.  
  
"I dunno," Ryo replied. Moss grinned.  
  
"Come on, don't pull this crap with me. There is no such thing as jinxes," he told Ryo. Ryo simply shrugged once more.  
  
"Whatever. Some of it was easy and some was hard," Ryo said.  
  
"Did you get the question on the different Gardens and their headmasters?" asked Moss. Ryo shook his head. He knew that there were a total of 200 questions written for the SeeD exam and there were 100 on each student's test. These 100 questions were chosen at random, a different combination for each computer console.  
  
"Well then," Moss continued, "Do you know all of the different Gardens and their headmasters?"  
  
"Well, the Gardens are easy. Balamb, obviously, then Trabia, Galbaldia, and…one more. Centra, I think?" he began to use his fingers to count off the Gardens. Moss nodded.  
  
"Right," Moss said, "And we obviously know that Headmaster Cid is in charge here." Ryo lowered the finger that represented Balamb Garden and nodded.  
  
"And Martine is at Galbaldia," Ryo continued, and lowered a finger down for Galbaldia.  
  
"That leaves Trabia and Centra," said Moss. "But was Centra even finished yet?" Ryo shrugged.  
  
"I dunno. The last I heard, construction was still going on and Squall Lionheart, you know, the hero commander from the last Sorceress War was in charge down there." Moss nodded and Ryo lowered the finger for Centra.  
  
"That leaves Trabia. Wasn't there another one of the Sorceress War heroes up there?" Ryo asked. Moss shook his head.  
  
"No, you're thinking of Selphie Tilmitt. She's just a SeeD. I don't think that she has a position. There is a woman in charge of Trabia, though. I think her name is Faylinn." Ryo nodded and put down his last finger. Moss was still looking at him oddly.  
  
"What?" asked Ryo, "You're giving me that look." Moss leaned in conspiratorially.  
  
"Don't you think it's weird that we'd have to know useless information like that?" asked Moss.  
  
"No," Ryo answered bluntly, "You need to know lots of things in order to become a SeeD. I'm sure that knowing the headmasters will be useful, someday." He looked at Moss again who was still grinning an odd, mysterious grin. "What is your problem?" Ryo said, laughing at him, "Oh no, this isn't another one of your weird conspiracy stories is it?" Moss looked indignant.  
  
"They aren't weird!" he sniffed mock defensively. "Never mind," he continued after a pause. "When I can prove it to you, I'll tell you." Ryo snorted and laughed again.  
  
"Whatever. I'm going to go back to my dorm. I promised Geo that I'd help him study."  
  
"Study?" Moss asked, "Study for what?"  
  
"He wants to learn everything he can about GFs in case he gets to draw one from a monster on the field exam." Moss laughed.  
  
"All your roommate does is read! It's no wonder he passed the written with flying colors. But he doesn't have a mind of his own. I think he's going to fail the field exam. And," Moss tacked on to the end of his statement, "If you don't mind me saying so, he's a little, you know, weird." Ryo gave Moss a look, got up from his seat and walked out of the cafeteria. Moss leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head and lightly whistled to himself. 


	13. Thirteen

Seifer, Quistis, and Fujin don't belong to me. Same with other characters from the game.  
  
  
  
  
  
Quistis wordlessly followed Fujin into the cave, being mindful to avoid the sharp rocks that lined the floor. The ceiling of the cave was low, causing both women to stoop down slightly. Only about ten paces in, the cave widened to a larger area, furnished with a scruffy rug and a small beaten table in the center. Various posters lined the walls. Most of them, Quistis noticed, were posters asking exorbitant sums of gil for Seifer Almasy, dead or alive. A few of them, however, trumpeted the return of the SeeD band from Balamb Garden that Selphie had set up. Quistis remembered how Selphie had managed to cajole and coerce herself, Irvine, and Zell to perform with her once more before she returned to help rebuild Trabia. There were three piles of pillows set in small corners of the room. On one of these piles, a figure was crouched down in the shadows. As Fujin led Quistis to the center of the room where the table was, the figure arose from it's slumped over position and walked into the light. Quistis gasped.  
  
"Seifer," she faintly said. Seifer walked up to Quistis, staring into her eyes. A remnant of his trademark smirk was on his face.  
  
"My dear ex-Instuctor," Seifer began, emphasizing the 'ex' in his hoarse, broken voice, "Am I still your favorite student?" Quistis pulled herself out of shock and managed to put her iciest Instructor stare of disgust on her face.  
  
"I see you haven't changed one bit Seifer. Still a stuck up prick, I gather." Quistis's voice lost some of its conviction as she continued to look into his eyes. She squinted. His smirk was still on his face, but his eyes were different. To Quistis they seemed lost, and broken, without a real focus. Seifer then smiled at her comment, a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He laughed. It was a hoarse, low laugh that quickly turned into a cough.  
  
"And you, my dear ex-Instructor, haven't changed a bit either," he said, pausing to appraise her with his eyes before continuing. "No words for your favorite student?" he shook his head and made a low, 'tsk-tsk' noise in his throat, "No wonder you were stripped of your Instructor's license." Quistis narrowed her eyes and glared at Seifer.  
  
"I am an Instructor again, Seifer. There were…circumstances that I needed to deal with at the time, rather than my duties as an Instructor," she pointedly said, a coat of steel in her voice. Seifer stood back and clapped rather loudly a few times.  
  
"Congratulations," he said. Quistis narrowed her eyes once more. She couldn't tell if Seifer's praise was genuine or if he was once again being sarcastic. Instead of addressing it at that moment she looked around the small room once more.  
  
"So what lovely circumstances brought you to live here?" she asked coolly. Seifer glared at Quistis.  
  
"It may not look like much to you, my dear ex-Instructor," Seifer began, once again emphasizing the 'ex,' "But to me and Fujin and Rajin, it's home." Quistis nodded and backed off.  
  
"Well then," she said. "I am sure I have bothered you long enough. I shall take my leave now." She smoothly turned around to find Fujin blocking her way. Quistis whirled around to face a smirking Seifer.  
  
"God damn you Seifer, what the hell do you want?" she asked, her temper getting the better of her. She didn't want to spend any more time with this former student of hers.  
  
"My dear Quisty," Seifer spat, using her old orphanage nickname sarcastically. "You are going to take us back to Balamb Garden with you when your vacation ends tommorow…" Quistis gasped,  
  
"Bastard! You've been spying on me?" she yelled, her cool visage now shattered by anger. Seifer began his hoarse laugh again.  
  
"Well it isn't every day your favorite ex-Instructor comes to call," he said. "Now as I was saying. You will take us back to Balamb and come with me to inform Headmaster Cid that the three of us, that is Fujin, Rajin, and myself, wish to become SeeD cadets again." Quistis began to laugh.  
  
"Again?" she said, "What the hell for? You haven't had enough of failing yet?" As soon as she said this, Quistis regretted it. She saw something shatter in Seifer's eyes as he stepped forward, his face inches away from Quistis's. He pulled Hyperion out of his trenchcoat pocket, but didn't directly threaten or assail Quistis with it.  
  
"Don't fuck with me, Quistis," he said, his voice deadly. Quistis realized that it was the first time he had ever called her by her true name. She closed her eyes and nodded. He pulled his face away from hers and put Hyperion away.  
  
"Good," he said, "We understand each other." Seifer then smirked once more at Quistis. "I have a feeling, my dear ex-Instructor, that this is going to be quite fun." 


	14. Fourteen

It's been a little while since I updated. I'm usually faster. Sorry about that. My characters are mine, any characters from the game are not mine. I made up Nida's last name too (sorry)  
  
  
  
  
Ainsley pushed her way through the large crowd that had gathered and walked happily away from the large computer screen to a waiting Xaria. 

"Well?" Xaria asked, although she could already guess the outcome from the wide smile on Ainsley's face. "97 percent!" Ainsley said happily, and hugged Xaria. Xaria laughed.

 "That's great! I knew you'd be fine!" 

"Hey Ains!" a voice cried out. Ainsley turned around to see Ryo running after her. 

"Ryo!" she yelled and ran up to hug him. Ryo was surprised at the rare, genuine display of affection, but didn't complain about either. 

"Hey," he said, momentarily burying his face in her hair. He then stepped back to look at her. "Well, I'm guessing you passed," he said, smiling. Ainsley nodded enthusiastically.

 "How did you do?" she asked. Ryo stared at the ground and shuffled his feet. 

"Ummm." Ainsley was snapped out of her giddy excitement. 

"You didn't pass!?" she exclaimed. Ryo looked up and then grinned at her. 

"Gotcha!" Ainsley narrowed her eyes to glare at him. Ryo put his hands up sheepishly. 

"I passed, barely. I got an 80 exactly." Ainsley shook her head and then walked up to punch him in the shoulder, slightly hard. "Ow!" he exclaimed, bringing up his other hand to rub his shoulder. 

"Don't scare me like that!" said Ainsley, childishly. 

"Gee," said Ryo, putting his arm around Ainsley, "I never knew you cared." Ainsley narrowed her eyes at him again. "What!?" he exclaimed, "You've been ignoring me for the past week or two." Ainsley opened her mouth to dispute this, but Xaria quickly spoke. 

"Ains, didn't you promise to help me in Doctor Kimuri's office today?" Ainsley nodded her head, a relieved expression on her face, 

"Yeah, Sari I think I did," Ainsley then turned to Ryo. "I'm sorry, I have to go help Sari out. I'll talk to you later." Ryo nodded, a slightly dark expression on his face. He then reached forward and hugged Ainsley before watching her walk away with Xaria towards the elevator. He watched as they turned before the stairs and took a left. He was finally pulled out of staring after Ainsley by a sudden tap on his left shoulder. Ryo turned to face a grinning Moss.

 "Did you pass?" asked Moss. 

"Yeah," Ryo replied, somewhat dejected. 

"I'm guessing Ms. Super-Student passed as well." Ryo looked at Moss. 

"Her name is Ainsley," Ryo shot back, rather quickly. Moss nodded,

"I know," he told Ryo in a serious tone. "Did you pass?" Ryo asked, changing the subject. Moss nodded in reply. 

"So we all passed," Ryo said. Moss shook his head.

 "No there were two people in our class that didn't pass. But we had a higher ratio than Barak's classes. Half of his kids failed."  
  


  
Ainsley walked quickly towards the Infirmary with Xaria.

 "What's Doctor Kimuri going to say when you have an extra person?" she asked. Xaria frowned at this. Although Doctor Kimuri was a very nice person and attentive to all of her patients, she didn't like overcrowding in her office. Ainsley could understand her want of privacy, especially if a sick patient needed bed rest. Xaria shook her head, 

"I don't know. Is there anyplace else you want to volunteer at?" At Balamb Garden it was encouraged to do volunteer tasks in the field that you wanted to go into when you became a SeeD. Of course it was impossible to volunteer for field missions, but other tasks such as Weapons Instructor, Instructor, Doctor, or Pilot allowed a cadet to get a feel for the job before petitioning to work in that position once they did become a SeeD. It was this last job in this list that Ainsley preferred over all of her other volunteer work. 

"I'll go see if Nida wants my help. If he doesn't then I'll come back down here to see if you need my help," Ainsley told Xaria. Xaria nodded as Ainsley turned back to go to the elevator in the main hall. Ainsley quickly ran up the stairs and dashed into the elevator, diving into it right before the doors closed. Breathless, she leaned against the elevator wall as a SeeD looked at her in amusement. She smoothed her cadet uniform, giving him a look while pressing the button for the third floor.

 "Why are you running?" asked the SeeD in a low, drawling voice, 

"In that much of a hurry?" Ainsley shook her head,

 "It's a long story," she said.

 "Oh, I see," said the SeeD, smirking, "You don't want to be seen by someone," Ainsley glared at the nosy SeeD. 

"It's none of your business!" she said. He laughed as the elevator came to a stop at the second floor. 

"Well, this is my floor," the SeeD said. "Have a good one," he waved cockily back at Ainsley and winked at her as the doors closed. Ainsley glared at him. She once again smoothed her jacket down as she walked out onto the third floor. The floor used to be restricted for cadets and SeeDs when the Garden hadn't been mobile. Now, cadets and SeeDs could walk freely around the third floor and onto the piloting deck with permission from the Garden pilot, Nida Hardaway. Ainsley was one of these people seeing as being a Garden pilot was what she wanted to do once she became a SeeD. She walked on to the elevator platform and slowly went up to the piloting deck. Nida smiled as he saw who was coming. 

"Hey Ainsley," he said. "What can I do for you?" Ainsley shrugged. She was still in a rather bad mood after being teased by the SeeD in the elevator. 

"Do you need any help?" she asked, "I need something to do." Nida shrugged. 

"There's not much to do right now seeing as we aren't going anywhere for a little while. I could begin teaching you some of the controls if you want. But you can't touch anything." Ainsley nodded and turned to face the control panel.


	15. Fifteen

Sorry I haven't updated in so long!  I'm at college, but I wrote a lot of stuff recently so I'm just now adding the chapters.  I also updated this chapter and chapter 14 to make them more readable, sorry about that mistake!!

"Ye-owch!" Pyri yelped as she tripped and fell flat on her face into Ainsley's room. Ainsley looked up from her desk and at the heap on her doorstep with amusement.

 "What are you doing?" Ainsley asked. Pyri picked herself up and ran to the small mirror that Ainsley had mounted on the wall next to her bed. As Pyri moved across the room, Ainsley noticed that she only had one boot on. 

"Geez! You don't have a bigger mirror than this?" grumbled Pyri. Ainsley shrugged, 

"I never really cared I guess," she replied. Pyri sighed, exasperated and put her arm around Ainsley. 

"My dear girl, you need to get out more. We need to take you shopping!" as she said the word, 'shopping' a dreamy smile appeared on Pyri's face. Ainsley snorted, 

"Right, and with the field exam in two days we have so much time to be shopping too," she said sarcastically. Pyri didn't pick up on the sarcastic tone. 

"Exactly!" Pyri said, excitedly, "Let's go right now!" She grabbed Ainsley's hand and began pulling her away from the desk. Ainsley was surprised at Pyri's strength, assuming that she would be physically weak because of her stature. Ainsley had to use all of her strength to pry Pyri's hand from hers. She looked down at Pyri's feet and noticed, one more, that her left boot was missing. 

"What's wrong with your boots?" Ainsley asked. Pyri looked down and a dart of recognition flashed across her smiling face. 

"Oh yeah, I was in such a hurry to get here to study, I kind of woke up a little late, but anyway I was running here and kind of getting dressed in the process so I didn't have time to put both my boots on so I figured I'd put them on while I was waiting outside but I leaned against the door for support and I just kind of fell in," Pyri rambled, all in one breath. Ainsley stifled a laugh, which came out as a weak cough, and turned back to the books on her desk.

"We really need to start studying," Ainsley said, always on task. Pyri groaned. 

"We couldn't at least go to the training center?" she whined, "At least that would be interesting." Ainsley suppressed another laugh. Pyri was four years older than she was and acted as if she were four years younger. Ainsley closed the book that had been left open on her desk. 

"Okay," she said in a mocking tone, shaking her finger in the direction of Pyri, 

"But only this once." Pyri clasped her hands together and jumped up. 

"Great! Let's go!" she said, grabbing Ainsley's hand and dragging her out of the room.  
  
Xaria released a stunning series of punches that immobilized the body of yet another Grat. She paused to take in a couple of breaths before continuing to walk in circles under the tropical canopy in the training center. She heard a crashing through the underbrush and looked up, bracing herself in a defensive stance with fists out. Instead she saw two cadets emerge from the bushes. One was her roommate, being dragged by her friend, Pyri. Xaria relaxed and began to laugh. Pyri waved excitedly. Ainsley looked a little worried as they reached Xaria. 

"Are you okay?" Ainsley asked her, "You look awfully tired." Xaria nodded and dipped her hands down into the small brook that wound around the training center to splash some of the water on her face. It was warm, but it refreshed her all the same. 

"I'm fine," she replied to Ainsley, a little breathlessly. Ainsley narrowed her eyes, 

"Are you trying to discover your Limit again?" Xaria looked at the ground, chided by a fourteen year old. Ainsley glared at her, "You know you're not supposed to do that, what if you fainted?" Xaria dismissed the thought with a wave of her hand, 

"There are other people in here, I'm sure one of them would come across me in time." Ainsley shook her head and sighed. 

"Ummm.Ainsley?" a nervous voice asked. Ainsley looked up to see Pyri looking quite frightened of a large tree. 

"What is it?" Ainsley asked, perplexed. 

"I think we should leave now," said Pyri, quietly, as she began to take small steps backwards. Ainsley shrugged, 

"I don't see what the problem is," said Ainsley, looking around, "Sari's already killed nearly everything in this area," she joked, looking over at Xaria who wiped a sheen of sweat from her forehead. 

"No, I'm serious, there's a T-Rexuar in there," said Pyri, nervously pointing a trembling finger at the underbrush they had just come out of. Ainsley shrugged, and then narrowed her eyes. 

"How would you know there's anything in there? I don't see anything," Ainsley paused for a moment to hear the jungle like sounds of monsters in the training center, "And I don't hear anything coming from over there either." Pyri shook her head and grabbed Ainsley's hand. 

"Let's just go, okay?" she said, visibly upset. Ainsley shook her head, but began to walk quietly away with Pyri. Xaria turned to follow when a large thing flew over their heads and landed on the ground in front of them. All three of them fell to the ground as the earth shook. Xaria opened her closed eyes to a large dinosaur-like face blinking in front of her. The T-Rexuar stood up in it's full majesty and sounded a large roar. The force of it blew Pyri back a few feet and she struggled to get up. Ainsley pulled out her rapier. "As long as there's three of us we should be able to do this," she yelled over the din of the roar. Xaria nodded and held her fists in front of her as Pyri visibly steeled herself and pulled out a large black mace. The three cadets braced themselves, waiting for the attack.


	16. Sixteen

This is another one of the chapters I wrote recently.  It should be formatted (hopefully) and I fixed the last two that weren't formatted correctly.  Read and review!  Enjoy!  Quistis, Seifer, Fujin, and Rajin don't belong to me, obviously.

Quistis looked over in disgust as Seifer ravenously devoured another hotdog.  She swallowed down a slight feeling of nausea and reminded herself that Seifer probably hadn't had a real meal in a very long time.  Her gaze turned to the small reflection coming off of the cold blade of Hyperion.  She shivered as she imagined how many people must have been cut down and murdered by that blade.  Fujin noticed her glare and scowled back at her.  Quistis, feeling chided shrunk away and looked down at her down dinner.  A bit of anger began to rise inside her.  Who were they to think that they could treat her this way?  If anything they should be at her mercy, for they were the ones that wanted to be reaccepted into the Garden.  She looked up again and said coldly to Seifer, who was still eating,

"So how so you expect to get in the Garden anyway?"  Seifer looked up at her, slightly surprised that she would address him at all.  Quistis shivered once more at the hollowed look in his eyes but held her gaze and continued, "It's not as if I can waltz into Balamb Garden with three of the most wanted people in Galbaldia, Esthar, Centra, Trabia…" with each name Quistis counted a finger on her hands.  Seifer glared at her,

"I get it," he interrupted her.  "So what?"  Quistis threw up her hands, exasperated,

"So what!?  Technically, because of my affiliation with SeeD, I should have killed you when I first saw you yesterday!  Why do you think we're taking a train at this odd hour?  Or why do you think you're dressed like that?" Quistis pointed to Seifer's business suit that he was wearing in place of his usual trench coat, "Why do you think…?"

"I GET it," Seifer cut her off, and continued to eat.  Quistis looked at him for a moment,

"So…." She began.  Seifer looked up once more

"So, you should come up with some kind of plan.  Isn't that what SeeDs are trained to do?" he smirked.  Quistis glared at him and stalked out of the room into the next train car.  Seifer hoarsely laughed and quickly began to cough.  Fujin and Rajin looked at their leader, worried,

"You should really get some help for that, 'ya know?" Rajin told him.  Seifer shook his head,

"It can't be anything but a cold, really," he shrugged and continued to eat.  Rajin joined in while Fujin noiselessly glided towards the next room where Quistis was.

"It's downright spooky th' way she moves sometimes, 'ya know?  Like she's not human or somethin'" Rajin whispered to Seifer.  Fujin turned her one red eye towards Rajin, swiftly ran back to kick him hard in the shins, and then walked into the other room.  As soon as she had gone Seifer burst out laughing as Rajin moaned, holding his hurt shin.

Fujin entered to see Quistis sprawled out, as much as one possibly can, in one of the beds in the sleeping car.

"TIRED?" Fujin asked Quistis.  Quistis looked up, surprised at any unhostile gestured from the rather daunting older woman.  She rose to a sitting position on the bed and smoothed any loose strands of her blonde hair back.  Looking up at the gray-haired woman, Quistis nodded.  Fujin simply stood there and finally Quistis couldn't take the silence,

"I don't understand what he wants me to do!  I'm not sure if there's any possible way that he can even be re-entered in the SeeD program.  It would be a lot easier for you," Quistis paused and looked into Fujin's eyes, "You didn't murder hundreds of people needlessly.  You didn't help start a war, You didn't…." she trailed off and breathed heavily, fighting the urge to crumple onto the bed and burst out crying, something she hadn't done for years.  She looked at Fujin, an ever unchanging mask of steel on her face, and took a deep breath.  If Fujin could hold her guise of frosty civility, Quistis could also disguise her emotions.  She had to think.  There must be some way that she could sneak the three of them in long enough to present their case to Headmaster Cid.  A flash of doubt crossed her mind.  What if Cid refused to let them in?  Would Seifer kill her? Quistis wouldn't put it past him.  Seifer had killed many others that he hadn't even known, and he never had bothered to disguise his contempt for Quistis.  Quistis inwardly sighed.  She would have to think about that later.  Right now her priority would have to be getting the three ex-cadets into the Garden.  The train gave a slight jolt and Quistis bumped her head on the bunk above her.  Rubbing the small bruise on her head, she realized that the train was stopping.  A sign flashed across a small screen in the sleeping car, 

'Timber,' a tinny, electronic voice called out over the intercom, 'Timber,' it repeated.  Quistis rose from the bed and walked into the next room to gather Seifer and Rajin.  Seifer smirked as he saw Quistis and Fujin enter the room.

"So do you have a plan yet?" he asked, his voice dripping with contempt.  Quistis fought the urge to scowl or scream at Seifer.  Her eyes darted around the room and alighted on the small trapdoor leading to the outside.

"Come on," she ordered confidently, "Let's go."


	17. Seventeen

Thanks for reading and keep the reviews coming!  

Xaria winced as Pyri was released from the jaws of the T-Rexuar and thrown backwards and somersaulted once before collapsing into a heap on the dirt.  She steeled her nerves and turned away from Pyri's body.  Ainsley, so intent on calling her new GF, Leviathan, didn't notice Pyri fall.  Ainsley raised her hands above her head, fell to her knees and felt the familiar floating, near conscious sensation of drawing a GF.  This time, however, it was as if she was the one flying towards the sky and summoning the waterfall.  Instead of staying detached from Leviathan, she felt as if she were Leviathan.  Ainsley didn't have time to worry, however.  As she returned to her normal state of consciousness she noticed Pyri's body lying facedown on the ground.  Screaming she ran to Pyri's side and attempted to rouse her.  She didn't have any life spells on her, but she tried Cure and Esuna.  Xaria watched Ainsley's frantic attempt to revive her friend and opened her mouth to yell at Ainsley.  She should know, as every SeeD was taught, that you should always focus on the battle at hand rather than repeatedly trying to revive a fallen comrade.  Xaria gritted her teeth and bit her tongue.  She reminded herself that Ainsley was still very young, no matter what age she usually acted.  After releasing another series of rapid fire punches on the attacking dinosaur, she yelled to Ainsley over the din of his roar,

"Focus on the battle, we'll take care of her later!"  

"But…" Ainsley began and then turned away from Pyri.  She rose up off of the ground and began to summon Leviathan once more.  Xaria nodded and focused on summoning Ifrit.  Suddenly the T-Rexaur darted out and gripped Ainsley in it's jaws, thrashing her around and then depositing her on the ground as it had with Pyri before her.  Xaria screamed and lost her summoning concentration.  Forgetting what she had said to Ainsley moments before, Xaria rushed to Ainsley's side and tried to revive her.  Failing, Xaria pulled herself up off of the ground and glared at the attacking monster.

"So you want to play that way do you?" she gritted her teeth and threatened, rather out of character.  Suddenly she felt come foreign power rising in her.  She crossed her arms over her chest and lowered her head a moment, feeling the power coarse through her body.  Raising her head she looked at the T-Rexuar with a glint in her eye.  Yelling,

"FISTS OF FURY!!" she proceeded to release a barrage of lightning fast punches on the dinosaur.  After doing so, she watched as the dinosaur collapsed to the ground, finally defeated.  Falling towards the dirt herself, a mysterious figure flashed quickly across her eyes, slowly lifting Ainsley's body from the ground.  Reaching out and trying to speak, Xaria went limp and crumpled into a heap on the dirt.

Pyri watched as the cool, salty breeze ruffled the stiff curtains above her head.  She sighed, blowing a strand of dark hair from her forehead.  For what seemed like an eternity, all she had been able to do was lie in the infirmary bed and watch the soft, ocean breezes of Balamb rustle the curtains.

"It hardly rains here," said Pyri out loud to herself, assuming that she could not be heard, "I wonder why."  Suddenly the door opened and a taller girl with strawberry blonde hair entered.  Pyri looked up and smiled.  Pushing her hair back, the girl sat on the edge of Pyri's bed.

"You haven't been in here a day yet and you're already going insane and talking to yourself?"

"I don't get it," Pyri said, not bothering to answer Ainsley's first question, "Why are you already okay, Xaria didn't even have to stay in here more than an hour, and I have to stay here overnight?"  Ainsley quickly pointed to the small bandage on her head.

"I only have a concussion, and there's not much more that Doctor Kimuri can do, but give me a bandage and tell me that I can't do anything until my headaches stop."  Ainsley shrugged, "It kind of sucks though, I mean, I'd better get rid of them before the SeeD test."  Pyri's eyes widened,

"The test!  Shit!  We need to study!" sitting up quickly in her bed, Pyri tried to stand up.  Yelping with pain as she began to move her legs she fell back onto the sheets.  Ainsley laughed.

"You have a broken leg!  How do you think you're going to go out and train with that?"  Pyri glared at her.  Ainsley shrugged, "Hey, I happen to think that taking on a full-grown T-Rexuar is training enough for the SeeD test.  It's unlikely that we'll face any kind of monster that is that powerful.  So now the only stuff we need to go over is tactics."  Pyri stopped to ponder this, and finding it reasonable, slowly nodded.

"Well then," said Pyri, gesturing to the chair next to her bed, "You might as well make yourself comfortable.  I'm bored out of my skull and have nothing better to do."  Laughing, Ainsley pulled out a small SeeD history book and moved to the chair that Ainsley has pointed to.


	18. Eighteen

Pleeeease review!  Not to be whiny or anything, but compared to how many chapters I've written, hardly anyone reviews my story.  Luckily I'm continuing it out of the goodness of my heart! ;)  Anyway, most of the characters in this chapter belong to Squaresoft.  Remember that, please.  Also, in case I don't make it clear, anything in italics is thought in someone's head, but not actually said aloud.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!

                Ex-Balamb Garden Commander Squall Lionheart ran his fingers through his brown hair and took a deep breath, surveying the land.  Centra bordered on a desert climate, with a few forests in the center of it's largest island, the rest of it consisted of hilly terrain made out of red, sandy rocks and clay.  There were a few beaches as well, made from coarse red sand.  The wind blew in his face, whipping his hair around and causing coarse grains of sand to fly into his face.  He sheltered it with his hands.

                "Squall!" a girl's voice shattered his panoramic view.  Wiping the few beads of sweat off of his forehead, he turned around to see an eternally cheerful, sprightly girl running towards him.  Waving ecstatically, she swiftly tripped as she neared him, somersaulting to the ground.  Another figure quickly swept in, effortlessly picking the young woman off of the ground and carrying her towards Squall.  Depositing her on her feet in front of the ex-Commander, the young man removed his cowboy hat and bowed to the woman.

                "Thanks Irvy!!" the girl said enthusiastically and then turned to Squall.  "Hey, Squall, what's going on?"  Irvine, slightly put out that she hadn't acted more grateful, meaning that she hadn't swooned in his arms, replaced his hat with a firm tug on his head and pretended to pout.  Squall rolled his eyes.

                "What are you two doing here?"  

                "Wee-ell…I'm here because it's my next assignment, to help you get this place up and running, I'm in charge of recruiting new cadets, and testing them!" said Selphie, complete with a mock salute.  Pausing, she continued, a slightly perplexed tone in her voice, "I'm not sure why Irvy came though."

                '_You didn't travel here together_?' Squall thought to himself.  There was a slightly pause, and Irvine, forgetting to keep up his mock pouting said,

                "And I have orders to be the new Weapons teacher at Centra Garden.  I'll be in charge of the training center and all of your weaponry classes," Irvine paused and put a broad smile on his face.  Lapsing into his gentle, sexy drawl he continued, "And I'm here to protect my precious Sefie, at whatever the cost."  He ended this with a flourish, removing his hat and bowing to her.  Selphie rolled her eyes, and then decided to play along, giggling and curtseying in response.  At this, Squall rolled his own eyes.

                '_They aren't married yet_?' he thought to himself, '_Well maybe they are and they haven't said anything.  After all, I haven't seen them in a while.  I guess I'll just wait for them to say something about it.  Oh well, it's good to see them anyway_.'

                "Earth to Squall!" Selphie's bright voice interrupted his train of thought.  Irvine shook his head.

                "And you thought marriage would change a guy…" commented Irvine.  Squall shook his head.

                "It's good…to see you.  Both of you," he said rather awkwardly.  Irvine laughed.

                "Well I'll be," he said, "Maybe it does."  Squall rolled his eyes,

                '_What more do you want from me_?' he thought.  Selphie stuck out her tongue at Irvine childishly and grabbed Squall's arm, wrapping it under hers, promenade style.

                "He's changed," she told Irvine, "Unlike some other people," she teased with a glint in her eye.  Irvine lapsed into 'charm' mode once more.

                "Aww…but you wouldn't love me half as much if I was any different."  Squall, watching Selphie, thought he saw a brief flicker of hurt cross Selphie's eyes, but the next moment they were sparkling like before.

                '_Maybe I imagined it_,' he thought, '_After all, these two will never change_.'  Sticking out her tongue again, Selphie retorted,

                "Who says I do love you anyways?"  Irvine pretended to act shocked as Selphie grasped Squall's arm slightly more firmly.  "C'mon Squall," she said haughtily, pointing her nose in the air, "Let's go,"  and with that, she began to drag Squall back to the Garden building, built on the outskirts of the one and only forest on Centra, a little ways from Edea's old orphanage.  Squall cast Irvine a pitying look as he was dragged away.  Irvine paused, and then followed the two of them.

                Brushing her hair back, Rinoa set the table and then sat down next to Squall.  Selphie noticed that Rinoa's hair was much longer now, but still kept up very well, so it shined in the lazy beams of sunlight that entered the room.  Rinoa looked a little paler than Selphie remembered, but when she talked, she could hear the cheery elegance that Rinoa had always had, and her good mood quickly rubbed off on Selphie.

                "How are you!?" Rinoa chattered excitedly to Selphie, "You sound great from all of your letters!"  Selphie blushed excitedly and began telling Rinoa of her various missions as a SeeD from Trabia.

                "…Not many BIG jobs like we had in the past, but little stuff, you know.  Mainly, we're, me and Headmaster Faylinn that is, are trying to help out as much as we can with the Timber independence movement."  Rinoa shook her head,

                "You would have thought that Timber would have been liberated by now," she said sadly, remembering her girlish idealism from her teen years.  "I wonder where Zone and Watts are now…?" Rinoa continued, distantly.  Selphie smiled,

                "Oh you shouldn't worry about them, I saw them on a mission a couple of months ago.  They're regular white SeeDs now," she giggled, childishly.  Rinoa laughed and shook her head,

                "What's so funny?" she asked.  Selphie dropped her voice down to a whisper.  Irvine rolled his eyes and looked at Squall, who shrugged back at him.

                "All Zone did was ask about Quistis.  It's like he's been in love with her ever since he gave up that train ticket way back in Timber."  Rinoa's mouth broke into a broad smile and she began giggling along.  Squall and Irvine, of course had overheard.

                "I wonder how Quisty is doing?" though Irvine aloud.  Rinoa shrugged,

                "From her letters, I'd say she's doing great.  She was training this wonder student of hers, Ainsley something or other…" 

                "Oh great, another Quistis," joked Irvine, interrupting Rinoa.

                "…And she even took a vacation to FH," Rinoa finished.

                "Quistis on vacation?" Squall spoke inquisitively.

                "Yeah," said Irvine, "It does seem kind of out of character…"

                "Well, I think Zell kind of made her go.  I guess they've become really good friends," said Selphie.

                "Quistis and Zell!?" asked Irvine incredulously.  Rinoa rolled her eyes.

                "No silly!" said Selphie, punching Irvine in the arm, "They're just friends," she emphasized.  Squall shook his head.  Of course that would be what Irvine's mind would jump to.

                "Well, I'd better get back to work," said Squall abruptly.  "You guys can come see me when you're done."  With this, he got up and walked away.  Selphie shook her head as she watched his retreating back.

                "Still the same old Squall," she commented.  Rinoa shook her head,

                "Actually he's come along way.  And he is right.  Getting this Garden up and running is a lot of work."  She sighed.  Selphie looked a little worried.

                "Are you okay?" she asked Rinoa, "You look kind of pale."  Rinoa shook her head.  

                "I just have a cold," she responded, "But maybe I should lie down…" Rinoa rose from her seat as Selphie nodded.  "Make yourselves at home," Rinoa continued, "If you need anything just ask," and with that she gracefully exited the room and walked up the stairs.  Irvine turned his undivided attention to Selphie.

                "So how come you have time to write letters to all the girls, but you don't write any to me?" said Irvine with a hurt look on his face.  Selphie smiled, figuring he was joking.

                "Like you would have time to answer them," she said with a warm smile, "But we can catch up now."  Irvine's hurt look lingered for a few moments before disappearing.

                "Yeah, you're right," he drawled.  "So, sweetheart," he began, turning on all of his charm and leaning towards her, "How have you been?"  Selphie laughed and began to talk animatedly.  


	19. Nineteen

This is it!  The beginning of the exam chapters!  Okay enjoy this chapter folks, any of the characters mentioned from the game are being borrowed from Squaresoft, obviously, and my characters belong to me (also kind of obvious).  Please review.  Thanky swanky!

Xaria took a deep breath, stretching her arms above her head and jumping quickly into the air a few times, very nervously.  Looking around she began to walk slowly and gracefully towards the center of the hallway.  She was the first one to meet at the large computer board in the main hall of Balamb Garden.  Having gotten up two hours earlier than usual, going to the cafeteria before it was even open, washing and pressing her uniform, and nervously flitting through books she couldn't take it anymore, and therefore, was a half hour early to her field test.  The only people who were at the board were Instructor Barak, Nida, Xu, and, to Xaria's surprise, Headmaster Cid.  Reviewing all that she had studied about previous field tests, she was surprised to see the Headmaster at the board so early, as she had thought he only came at the end of the explanation to say a few inspirational words to the eager cadets.  Xaria let the nosy side get the better of her and casually walked behind a potted plant in an attempt to overhear tidbits of the conversation.

"…So she's not back yet?" Xaria heard a woman's voice inquire.  Probably Xu, seeing as she was the only female present.

"No, not yet…" Headmaster Cid responded in his quiet but somehow powerful voice.

"It's not like her to just take extra vacation days.  Quite out of character," stated Instructor Barak rather huffily, "I can't continue to take her classes."  Xu frowned at the Instructor.

"Well, I don't think she's out there for fun.  After all, she did check out of her hotel after the required 6 days…" said Nida.  Xu nodded, as did Headmaster Cid.

"Good point," said the Headmaster, "According to my records she checked out of where she was staying exactly on schedule, just like she usually would."  Instructor Barak sighed,

"She probably just decided to go somewhere else, she's young and she probably felt as if she deserved a vacation."  Xu snorted at this statement.

"If you knew her at all, you would know that she didn't even want to go on this vacation.  In fact, she's probably never had a vacation in her life," Xu retorted.  Headmaster Cid gave a stern look to both Xu and the instructor before they actually started an argument.

Xaria furrowed her brow in thought of who the four of them might be talking about.  Then it dawned on her, '_Quistis_…'she thought.  Quistis had been on vacation when they administered the written exam, and Xaria hadn't given thought to how much time Quistis would be taking off.  Between the written test and her Limit discovery, it hadn't crossed her mind that Quistis was missing.  It had been 11 days since the written exam, '_Nida just said that Quistis was supposed to have ended her vacation after six days_..." Xaria turned her attention back to the conversation at hand.

"…in FH haven't seen her in days," Nida was finishing.  Headmaster Cid stroked his chin, deep in thought.  

"Well if the authorities there haven't seen her, have you notified to surrounding areas?" asked Xu

"Maybe she got lost?" suggested the instructor.  Xu covered her mouth and coughed to disguise a snort.  Instructor Barak shot her a slight glare regardless.  Headmaster Cid cleared his throat.

"Well, there's nothing we can do for right now.  Quistis is a trained SeeD and if that weren't enough is also a survivor of the recent Sorceress War.  I'm sure if she were in imminent danger or if she had, by chance, stumbled into something truly disastrous, she would have contacted us by this time.  Now then," he continued, pausing for a moment to clear his throat and soften his tone of voice, "We have a SeeD field test to administer.  I'll shall return to my office for a few moments before returning to wish the cadets luck."  And with that the headmaster turned on his heels and walked up the stairs towards the elevator.  Xu, Nida, and Instructor Barak all nodded and saluted as they watch the Headmaster leave.  Sighing Xu shrugged her shoulders as Nida gave her a look of concern.

"I can't believe that she would be as irresponsible as to not contact us.  Something must have happened to her and I don't think that the headmaster is taking this seriously enough," she said rather morosely.  Nida shrugged in sympathy,

"I think deep down, he's probably just as worried as you.  After all, Quistis is one of Edea's adopted children.  I know that all of the Garden students are supposed to be like 'children' but I think Quistis holds a special place in Cid's heart that won't let him express his concern.  He can't let it conflict with his job."  Xu nodded at Nida's statement and Instructor Barak nodded also, although his back was turned as he was watching the arrival of a student for the test.  Xaria gasped from her potted plant position and quickly scurried out of the SeeDs' view.  Not looking where she was going she quickly found herself on the ground, having crashed into someone.

"Are you okay?" she heard a familiar voice asking.  She found herself looking up into the smiling eyes of Tibor.  Blushing slightly, Xaria stood up, ignoring the helpful hand that Tibor reached out towards her.  

"I'm fine," Xaria responded with a slightly forced brightness as she dusted off her formerly pristine uniform.

"I always knew you'd fall for me," Tibor quipped.  Xaria rolled her eyes and smiled.

"That was horrible," a slightly deeper voice from behind Xaria chimed in.  She turned around to see Calder.  "You should really work on your pickup lines, my friend," he added.  Xaria tried furiously, and rather successfully, not to blush.

"So…" she said, clearing her throat, "Are you guys nervous about the test?" she asked as they began walking towards the computer board.  Calder and Tibor both shrugged.

"Not really."

"It'll be okay, I'm sure."  Xaria rolled her eyes once more as she noted the boys' inability to admit an emotion.  She noticed, despite their nonchalant responses, that Tibor's eyes would not meet hers, and Calder's foot had begun to tap aimlessly, now that they had reached the board and were standing still.  Xaria noticed Ainsley and Pyri standing in a group with Moss and Ryo.  Ainsley caught Xaria's eye and waved.  Xaria enthusiastically waved back noticing that both Pyri and Ainsley had been restored to perfect health thanks to the multiple Curaga spells that Doctor Kimuri had aquired.  

Nida waited patiently for all of the cadets to arrive.  Once he was informed by Xu that all of the cadets had come, he began the introductory speech.  The cadets would be divided into teams and sent on a mission in Timber.  They would be briefed on the various parts of the mission on the train ride to their destination.  Xaria nodded and swallowed.  She suddenly felt a hand in hers squeezing it slightly.  Turning around she saw Tibor, looking just as nervous as she felt.  Looking down at his hand inheres she squeezed back and smiled.

Headmaster Cid's speech was a blur and Xaria soon found herself on a train towards Timber, not really remembering ever getting on it.  She sat with her group, which included Ryo's best friend Moss, and another girl named Kaori.  They made up C squad, out of four squads, A, B, C, and D.  Ainsley, Tibor, and Calder had all ended up in B squad, while Pyri and Ryo had been placed in the D squad along with another cadet named Brelan.  Xaria watched as the scenery rushed by, and then saw the train door open as Nida walked in to brief them.  She took a deep breath and focused on Nida, trying to overcome her nerves. 


	20. Twenty

Part two of the SeeD field exam chapters!!!  Thanks for all the nice reviews and please keep reviewing so I can add your ideas to the story.  Once again, the characters from the game are being borrowed and my characters should not be used without permission from me.  Thanks!

                "Timber…Timber..." the name rang out in Ainsley's head repeatedly and wouldn't stop.  Ainsley closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

                '_I'll never come back to Timber again_!' Ainsley saw her own, childish, tear-stained face screaming at her bewildered father.  '_Someday you'll see me and I'll be more powerful than you'll ever be.  And then you'll wish you had wanted me, but it will be too late and I'll just turn you away_!' Ainsley could feel the words rushing out in a torrent and the anger that her younger self was expressing.  In reality she curled up in the fetal position in her seat on the train and cringed.  She then felt a warm hand on her shoulder and looked up into a pair of bright blue eyes.

                "Are you okay?" the young man with blond hair asked her kindly.  Ainsley nodded her head and he pointed to Nida, who had just finished briefing them.

                "Well?" Nida asked.  Ainsley nodded her head.  Nida smiled and nodded, "I knew you would agree to it," he told them, his voice filling with a little bit of pride, "and she'll be the youngest leader on a field exam ever."  Ainsley continued nodding and then turned to the older boy who had snapped her out of her reverie.

                "What did I just agree to?" she whispered under her breath.

                "You're going to lead B squad in out mission," he responded.

                "Oh…" she started, "Well, what is the mission?"  The boy gave her a bizarre look.

                "Are you serious?  You're the leader, weren't you paying attention?" he said as worry crept into her voice.  Ainsley shrunk back a little bit.  The boy sighed and held out his hand.

                "I'm sorry, I'm Tibor, and you are..?"  Ainsley smiled as she recognized the name.

                "I think we have a friend in common, Xaria Soucie?" she asked, still smiling.  He smiled and Ainsley could swear that she could see a slight blush creep into his face,

                "Oh yeah, I forgot she was roommates with you.  Sometimes I forget these things.  Especially when I'm nervous.  But I mean, you must be more nervous than me.  You're pretty much the captain of B squad."  Ainsley shook her head,

                "Please don't start calling me captain," she said shuddering, "I didn't even consciously agree to be in charge.  Anyway, what are we doing on this mission.  I know we're going to Timber…" her voice trailed off at the mention of the small city.  Tibor waved his hand in front of her eyes,

                "Hey are you not okay about going there?  I mean, 'cause if you are we might want to find a new leader."  Ainsley jumped and then shook her head as she braced herself.

                "No I'm fine," she answered.  "So we're going to Timber to help a government resistance faction?" she guessed.  Tibor shook his head slowly,

                "Well…sort of.  You know how, to appease the factions, Galbaldia pulled their army out of Timber?" he asked.  Ainsley nodded and Tibor continued, "Well then you must know that Galbaldia still hasn't given the people of Timber true freedom and they have set up a puppet government to control the city?"  Ainsley nodded again.  "Well, the puppet government had finally had enough of higher ups in the Galbaldian government telling him what to do.  He has decided to take control of the government, promising them independence."  Ainsley slowly nodded,

                "Well that's good then…isn't it?" she asked.  Tibor shook his head vigorously,

                "It should be, but it isn't.  The Regent, that's what he calls himself, is taking the city by any means necessary.  This meaning he's running around with Galbaldian resources killing everyone in sight.  So our assignment is to assassinate the Regent."  Ainsley sighed,

                "I'm not sure if I like receiving a mission from the Galbaldian government.  I don't particularly like the way that they run things, especially in Timber," she told him.  Tibor shrugged.

                "You don't really have much of a choice now do you?  I mean, SeeDs don't really get to choose their own missions, the missions are always chosen for them."  Ainsley made a face.  She didn't like the idea of a person who could switch sides at the drop of a hat.  That had been her only reservation when she was received at the Garden, and she had told herself that she would do all that she could to only accept missions that she truly believed in.  Now it didn't really look like she had much of a choice.

                "Don't worry about it," Tibor tried to assure her.  "I'm sure Headmaster Cid wouldn't accept a mission at random.  You have to trust that there's a reason to all of this."  Ainsley nodded and then jerked back in her seat as the brakes began to slow the train down.  Ainsley looked out the window and was shocked at what she could see.  Smoking buildings were everywhere and there was rioting in almost every street that she could see.  She heard a loud thump as a grenade hit the side of the train and exploded.  Her car jolted back and she could hear other passengers on the train, cadets and non-SeeD personnel alike, screaming.  A tall woman with short brown hair quickly ran to her side.

                "I'm Christie, the captain of A squad.  Our assignment is to get off of the train first and set up a safety net so your squad can get through.  You, along with C and D squads must secure the TV station, where the Regent is planning a broadcast very soon.  SeeDs will take care of the actual assassination.  Got it?" the woman was gone before a breathless Ainsley could nod her reply.  Ainsley took a deep breath and looked around at her squad.  Calder hadn't said anything, but was staring outside at the destruction with an odd look on his face, Tibor was eager and waiting for any instruction at all.  Ainsley nodded.

                "Well then," she began, somewhat regally as she pulled out her rapier from it's sheath, "Let's move out!"  She noted the confidence in her own voice as she led her squad, running, down the train car.  She could hear a small voice in the back of her mind.

                '_Welcome home_…"


	21. Twenty One

Sorry for the long wait!  As you know, I don't own anything but my own characters so any true FF8 characters are not mine.

Xaria groaned and wiped the sweat off of her face as stood over the young man she had just knocked unconscious.

"Xaria!  Over here!" Moss, the captain of C Squad called out to her.  Xaria nodded and sprinted up the stairs of the TV station after the two other members of her squad.  At the top of the steps she paused once more to look at the fuzzy TV screen, and then at the smoldering city below.  Smoke rose from fires in nearly every building.  She could see the flash of steel as the Galbaldian troops loyal to the Regent struck their swords out at anyone who chanced upon their path.  Xaria shook her head at the destruction.

"Horrible, isn't it?"  Asked Moss in a somewhat restrained voice.  Xaria shook her head.

"I don't understand why they can't just let it go," said Xaria.  Timber should have been freed a long time ago.  It doesn't have any valuable resources or anything, does it?"  Moss shook his head,

"No, but it's simply a sticking point for the Galbaldian government.  It can't be free because they say so.  It's theirs and they own it, or so they think."  

"So what about this guy, Regent?" asked Xaria.  Moss shrugged,

"He calls himself, 'the Regent' and he claims to be liberating Timber, but all her really wants to do is take over the city.  As for why…" Moss shrugged, "I dunno.  I guess it's just a simple power struggle, similar to why Galbaldia won't let go of Timber itself."

"Hey!  I could use some help over here!!" a shrill voice called out.  Moss and Xaria turned away from the city and found themselves staring into the blank face of a Galbaldian soldier.  The soldier tottered and fell as Xaria sidestepped just enough to avoid him falling on top of her.  A shiny black boot with a deadly metal spur attached to the heel stepped on the dead man's chest and Xaria looked up to see a grinning blonde-haired girl with short, spiky hair.

"There's more where that come from!" she yelled, fiercely arrogant.  Xaria sighed.  The third member of her party, Kaori, was just a bit too cocky for Xaria's liking.  However, she had to admit that the tall blonde girl did know how to fight, and that she was glad to have such a good fighter on her team.  No sooner had she thought this then Kaori whirled around to kick another Galbadian soldier loyal to the Regent in the face.  She made a flourish and a victory sign to Moss, who simply sighed and dragged out his axe to face an oncoming attacker.  Xaria's mouth spread into a slight smirk as she lit her fists into the same soldier.  It would seem that Moss shared her distaste for arrogance.  She whirled around and landed a punch square in the jaw of the soldier, knocking him to the ground.  She watched him fall and then heard a large scream.  Two Galbaldian soldiers had cornered Kaori against the railing on the platform that they were supposed to hold.  She looked over at Moss, who was preoccupied and nodded.  As Xaria stepped forward to help Kaori she felt a bullet pierce her shoulder.  Wincing in pain, she turned around to glare into the cold, glittering eyes of a soldier.  She squinted into his eyes and saw his confidence momentarily falter.  Xaria inwardly sighed, her conscious briefly getting the better of her.  Human qualities in her enemies made what she had to do all the more harder.  She clenched her fists and felt her resolve return.  She could not fail.  Unleashing a barrage of punches at the soldier, she noticed the blur of a black uniform rush by her to aid Kaori.  Relief washed over her.  She didn't like Kaori very much but she certainly didn't want her to die.  She watched her enemy stumble to the ground.  Breathing heavily, she grabbed her hurt shoulder and turned to face Kaori.  To her surprise, Xaria was greeted by the smiling face of her roommate.

"Need some help?" asked Ainsley, sweeping her strawberry-blonde hair off of her face, where it had matted itself in with the dirt and sweat.  Xaria smiled as she felt the familiar tingling sensation of a Cure spell wash over her body.

"They just keep coming," Xaria said exhaustingly as she rose into a straighter standing position.

"That's what our squad is here to tell you.  The assassination attempt was a success.  We're pulling out.  All squads are to meet back at the trains.  Xaria nodded, along with Kaori.

"Okay, you heard her, Squad C!  Let's move out!" Kaori commanded.  Ainsley shot Xaria a look, and Xaria shrugged in reply.  Kaori wasn't really that bad of a person, she was just arrogant.  

"Shall we?" the deep voice of Moss chimed in at her shoulder.

"Let's go," Xaria said.  They ran down the steps and into the chaos in the streets of Timber.  All of the soldiers loyal to the Regent were unleashing a full assault on the city to regain control of it.  The four cadets slowly fought their way to the Timber Maniacs building.

"Fricking hell!" Moss swore, "don't they know that their leader was assassinated?" he yelled over the clash of weaponry and the shrieks of the dying.

"That's what they're fighting for," Xaria yelled back as she sank her fist directly into the solar plexus of her opponent, "They want control of the city…" she trailed off and the yelled to Ainsley, who was slowly inching her way forward, slashing her rapier in front of her to ward off her attackers.  

"Hey Ains, who gets control of the city?" she yelled.  A flicker of concern flashed across Ainsley's face and was quickly replaced with determination.

"I don't know" Ainsley replied, "I guess it's whoever ends up with it after this battle."  Xaria nodded and lit into another soldier.

"We have to get to the train station!" Moss yelled, "They're going to leave without us."

"Enough!" Kaori yelled and stepped back, summoning Shiva.  Shiva blasted the entire area around them, leaving the four bloodstained and weary cadets in the middle of a clear area.  Ainsley, Xaria, and Moss began to run for the train station, but Kaori collapsed to the ground, exhausted.  Xaria turned around and ran back after her.  It was then that she saw three Galbaldian soldiers gathered around a fallen comrade.  Xaria pulled the unconscious Kaori off of the ground and handed her to Moss, walking over to the soldiers.

"Xaria!  We don't have time for this!" Moss yelled angrily.  Xaria pointed at the Galbaldian's uniforms, devoid of the white armband that distinguished the Regent's troops from the ordinary Galbaldian soldier.

"So what!?" yelled Moss, "They can take care of themselves!"  He threw up his arms in frustration, nearly dropping Kaori.  Xaria waved back dismissively and approached the soldiers.  She didn't know why, but their situation struck her as sad, and she wanted to try and right something in the chaotic city.

"Do you need help?" Xaria asked the smallest Galbaldian.

"Can you help us to the train to Balamb?" a woman's muffled voice came from behind the helmet.  She motioned to the figure lying on the ground.  Xaria nodded and helped the three soldiers pick up the fourth, who was very heavy and large.  Even with the four of them, Xaria stumbled under the weight of the fallen soldier.  The made their way to where Moss was carrying Kaori and Ainsley was fending off the dwindling attackers with her bloodied rapier.  

"Let's go," Ainsley said simply, and the group made their way to the train.  

As the doors slid shut behind them, Xaria and the three Galbaldian soldiers deposited the other soldier into a chair, which he sort of slumped over in, and really took up the space of three chairs.  Moss set Kaori down in a chair as well, then grabbed Xaria and dragged her into a corner.  

"What the hell did you think you were doing!?" Moss hissed at her softly, "You probably just cost us the whole freaking exam!"  He reached up to grab her uniform and then sighed, disgusted, sitting down in a chair.

"Well I couldn't just leave them there!" Xaria forcefully whispered back.

"I'm just glad it's over," Ainsley said, slumping into a chair next to Xaria.  Something in Moss's eyes softened and he looked at all of their tattered and bloodstained uniforms.

"Yeah, that was some fight hunh?" he said.  Xaria giggled and Moss looked up from the floor to see why.  Ainsley had already fallen fast asleep in her chair.  She slept all the way back to Balamb.


	22. Twenty Two

I love the Quistis and Seifer chapters, don't you? ;)  I obviously don't own the rights to either Quistis or Seifer, or any of the other original Final Fantasy 8 characters, locales, etc.  That having been said…enjoy!  And please review! 

She looked at her hand, visibly trembling, even under the heavy glove that she had donned.  She wasn't sure if it was trembling from her nerves, or from the fact that she was attempting to resist the strong urge to scratch every inch of her body that was touching her uniform.  It seemed to her that the Galbaldians made their uniforms the most uncomfortable things to wear on purpose.  She looked at one of her comrades, and glowered at him, knowing two things.  The first being that he was smirking under his helmet even though she couldn't see it through the helmet, and the second; that he couldn't see her glare, although he probably assumed the expression onto her face in the first place.  Pausing to think, Quistis realized that Seifer had most likely never seen her smile.  Thinking even further she wondered when the last time had been that she had truly smiled and enjoyed herself.  She sighed and looked at Rajin.  She could only imagine the twitching on his face, and the incredible control he was having to exert to pretend to be unconscious.  Fujin simply stood at Seifer's side, her head turned towards the windows, not really looking at anything in particular passing by, but just looking.  Quistis closed her eyes and sighed.  She had known that someone on the exam would have picked up a passerby, even if it had been the enemy.  And they weren't necessarily posing as the enemy.  Not of that particular mission anyway, Quistis thought to herself, having no love lost for Galbaldia.  

                "So, my dear Instructor, what do we do now?"  Quistis put her hands up to her head and groaned.  It was as if she could hear Seifer's dripping, acidic voice in her head right now, taunting her, pushing her to find a plan.  'Well I don't have one Seifer!  So go away!' she thought in her head.

                "Instructor?" she heard his voice inquire once more, "INSTRUCTOR!!!"  Quistis's hands moved from her head to directly over her ears to block out the sound.  Now she knew she was going crazy.  She looked over at Seifer to glare at him.  To her surprise, he was looking directly at her.  His eyes looked into hers and then rolled in exasperation.  He made a tapping motion on his helmet and then placed his hand over his mouth as if he was talking into a walkie-talkie.  Quistis felt as if she had been slapped in the face.  'No wonder I couldn't reach him,' she quickly thought to herself, 'If I was always acting this stupid.'  She looked over again at Seifer who was still looking at her as if to say, 'Come on, what are you waiting for, idiot?"  Quistis shook her head and fumbled around her helmet for a switch.  She located it near the chinpiece and softly switched it on.

                "Well it's about time you figured out the com system," Seifer's taunting voice filled her ears, "And you call yourself an Instructor."

                "Can it, Seifer," Quistis clipped, "If it weren't for me you wouldn't have a chance at getting anywhere hear Balamb."  She expected to hear Seifer's nasty retort, telling her that she was wrong.  Instead her ears rang with the sounds of silence for a few seconds and then,

                "So what's the plan from here?"  Quistis paused, still surprised at his abandonment of yet another chance to make her look foolish.  After quickly collecting her wits, she realized that she didn't have anything to tell him.  She supposed that they could come in as wounded, like some of the cadets and SeeDs on the train, but she knew that Doctor Kimuri would make them identify themselves.  If their identities were detected before she talked to the Headmaster…  Quistis shuddered.  She didn't want to think about what would happen to her if she was caught traveling with the Garden's most wanted fugitive, not to mention what they would do to Seifer himself.  She was suddenly struck with a wave of pity for Seifer.  She felt like telling him that she was glad that he was coming back to Garden to finish what he had started, to become a SeeD.

                "Instructor?"  Seifer's voice buzzed into her ears again.  Quistis shook her head.

                "Seifer?" she asked, not waiting for him to reply.  "Why do you want to go back to Balamb?"  There was a long pause, and Quistis looked over to see Seifer shifting in his seat, uncomfortably.  

                "What do you care?" his voice asked darkly.  "You just can't wait to get rid of me can you, Instructor."  Quistis clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.  How dare he lash out at her like this when she was doing everything in her own power to help him.

                "That's not what I said at all, Seifer!" she said, making sure to keep her voice down.  She looked over into his eyes and nearly squirmed away from him in her chair at the sight of the fire blazing in them.  Instead, she kept her cool exterior that she had had years of experience to maintain.  'No one else would have held his gaze,' Quistis told herself triumphantly.

                "You just keep your filthy nose out of it, Instructor," Seifer hissed.

                "Fine then," she retorted in a huff.  Then she continued, "And for the last time, Seifer, and I'll say this slowly so you will understand.  I. Am. Not. Your. Instructor.  And I will not be your Instructor.  In fact, I feel sorry for the person who will be your Instructor.  Oh, that is, if you even get back in."  The pointed words rolled off of her tongue with ease, each designed to hurt more than the one previous.  At the flicker in his eyes, she almost regretted saying him, but then remembered how immature and despicable Seifer really was.  Seifer would always be Seifer.


End file.
